Auston Matthews hasn't been himself the past two years, either because of injuries or usage by his former head coach. Ultimately, his EA Sports NHL rating has dropped for the second straight year and is outside the top 10 centers.
EA Sports released player ratings on Tuesday for the top 300 forwards in NHL 27. Four members of the Toronto Maple Leafs made the cut: William Nylander (93), Auston Matthews (92), Matthew Knies and John Tavares (both 88).
What's most notable from that bunch is Nylander being the highest-rated player on the team, while Matthews has received a downgrade for the second straight year.
Matthews' 92 overall rating is a two-point decrease from his 94 overall rating in NHL 26. Not to mention, the Maple Leafs captain was rated 95 overall in NHL 25, which followed his 69-goal campaign.
He sits outside of the NHL's top 10 centers, according to EA Sports, coming in at No. 11. He's also ranked 25th among all NHL players in the game.
Some names that stand ahead of him are Mark Scheifele, Nick Suzuki, Mitch Marner, Jack Hughes, and more.
You don't have to look far to understand why Matthews' rating has been dropping. His offensive production has dipped significantly compared to the years when he reached well over 100 points and 60 goals in a single campaign.
To be fair, a large portion of his reasoning for these past two seasons has been his health, and maybe even his deployment by previous head coach Craig Berube.
The 28-year-old center has dealt with lower back problems over the years, and most recently a serious knee injury he endured in late March from Radko Gudas. He also missed some time back in November because of a hit from Nikita Zadorov.
He ended up featuring in a total of 60 regular-season contests, recording 27 goals and 53 points. Those are the lowest numbers he's ever registered in his 10-year NHL career, including his 52-game campaign from the COVID-19-affected 2020-21 season.
It's also worth mentioning that in the past two seasons, injury-riddled though Matthews has been put in a lot more defensive situations than before Berube was named the team's head coach for the 2024-25 season.
In the season before Berube was hired, 9.9 percent of Matthews' shifts started in the defensive zone, according to MoneyPuck. But in the two years under Berube, that number rose to 16.3 percent in 2024-25 and 13.5 percent this past year. That's a key factor in why his production has dropped, and ultimately, his EA Sports NHL ratings.
With Jim Hiller now behind the bench, there's a grand opportunity for Matthews to find his scoring touch again.
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