Editor In Leaf
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Auston Matthews Surpasses Kessel, Clark and Vaive

By James Tanner

Mar 22, 2017; Columbus, OH, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) shoots the puck during warmups prior to the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2017; Columbus, OH, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) shoots the puck during warmups prior to the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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When the Toronto Maple Leafs won the draft lottery, we knew Auston Matthews was going to be good.

But we didn’t want to get our hopes up.  As fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs we know only one thing: expect the worse, then prepare for something worse than that.

But Matthews has been everything you expect from a first-overall pick, and more.  When he topped Wendel Clark’s 34 goals last week, everyone was very excited.

“He’s as good as Wendel!”

Well, no….he’s much, much better.

The thing about that record is that Clark did it in the 80s.  In the 80s, there were a lot more goals scored.  No one can score 200 points in today’s NHL, and not just because no one is as good as Gretzky.  In the 80s, you goalies were terrible.  Goals went in at a frequency that would ruin today’s poorly built goal horns.  Adjusted for era, Matthews passed Clark a long time ago.  I don’t know the exact numbers, but I’m guessing it was probably in Februrary sometime!.

In last night’s game against the Red Wings, Auston Matthews scored his 38th goal of the season.  This is significant because it passed Phil Kessel’s 37 goal career high.

Kessel, you may recall (!) was the Leafs best player before they traded him in a (successful) attempt to tank for Auston Matthews.  Say what you will about that trade, but Matthews has to be factored into any evaluation of it.

Auston Matthews vs Kessel and Sundin

Phil Kessel was the best player the Leafs had since Mats Sundin exited his prime. It’s pretty crazy that Matthews passed his career high in season one.  Auston Matthews isn’t likely to threaten Kessel’s 82 point career high until next season, but passing him goals is possibly more impressive.

Even more impressive: Mats Sundin’s best season on the Leafs saw him score 41 goals (sadly he had his best season as a Nordique).  This is within reach for Matthews, who would need four goals in his last five games to pass the best player in Leafs history’s best goal-scoring season as a Leafs.

Impressive.

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The two best single seasons for Leafs goal scorers were 1981-82 and 1993-94 by Rick Vaive (54)  and Dave Andreychuck (53), respectively.

When Vaive scored 50, there was almost two more goals scored per game than there is now.  When Andreychuck scored 50, there was one more goal scored per game.  

Therefore, Matthews 38 (and counting) are definitely more impressive than Vaive’s 54, and at least close, if not surpassing, of Andreychuck’s 53.

And he’s a rookie, so if the era adjusting doesn’t quite put him on Andreychuck’s level, I’d say he’s still close and that’s crazy.

Basically, it’s safe to say that Auston Matthews is already one of the best goal scorers in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs.  If he didn’t play in one of the lowest scoring eras of all time, he might have set the Leafs all-time single season scoring record this year.

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