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Toronto Maple Leafs: Where Does Auston Matthews Rank Among Young NHL Stars?

By Eric Cruikshank

TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 28: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates with the puck during an NHL pre-season game against the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Arena on September 28, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 28: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates with the puck during an NHL pre-season game against the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Arena on September 28, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /
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DENVER, COLORADO – NOVEMBER 30: Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against the Chicago Blackhawks at Pepsi Center on November 30, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO – NOVEMBER 30: Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against the Chicago Blackhawks at Pepsi Center on November 30, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /

#12 – Mikko Rantanen

Mikko Rantanen is one of the many players on this list that was chosen in the 2015 Entry Draft, but I often forget he was apart of that class, even though he was picked tenth overall. This is probably because Rantanen was a bit of a late bloomer in the context of his elite contemporaries.

Rantanen only played nine NHL games in his rookie year, and only began to turn heads in the 2017-18 season when he scored 84 points in his third season in the league. Rantanen plays alongside one of the best players in the NHL in Nathan Mackinnon (Fun Fact: he’s hanging around somewhere on this list too) and Gabriel Landeskog, to make up one of the best lines in hockey.

Rantanen is also a huge part of the Colorado power play which has done so well in the past two seasons, and was tied for tenth in the league in power play points with 33. This translated into Colorado’s offseason success as well, where Rantanen led the team in points with 14 in 12 games, including a stretch in which Rantanen scored ten points in five consecutive playoff games.

Despite injury troubles, Rantanen has not missed a beat since rejoining the Avalanche roster this season. In ten games he has 16 points and has reunited with a red-hot Nathan MacKinnon coming out of the month of November. The Avalanche were my dark horse team coming into the season for cup contention, and Mikko Rantanen is at the forefront of their deep offensive team.

#11 – Sebastian Aho

Sebastian Aho is one of the biggest steals from his draft on this list. Aho was taken 35th overall by Carolina in 2015 and had a breakout season last year where he scored a team high 30 goals and also finished first in points for the Hurricanes with 83.

Aho was also instrumental in Carolina’s outstanding playoff run last season, leading his team with 12 points in their 15 playoff games. Aho is going to be a consistent factor in scoring for years to come for the Hurricanes, and he even broke the single season franchise record for points last year.

Aho scores timely goals, he led the team in game winning goals last year with seven, which was 11th in the entire league. He is also currently sporting a team-leading 12 goals, and is on pace for a career high 39 goal season, which would put him among some of the best goal scorers in the league.

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