The Toronto Maple Leafs have never had a player like Auston Matthews before.
Throughout the years, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had some excellent high-level players – Sundin, Sittler, Gilmour, Kessel – but they’ve never had a generational talent on par with Gretzky, Lindros or Lemieux… that is until Auston Matthews.
Matthews has scored nearly a goal per game while healthy this year, and he scored 40 goals in 49 games overall, scoring at a pace unequalled since the prime of Mario Lemieux.
It has been amazing, as a Leafs fan, to watch this unfold. After years of jealously watching the best players in the world play for other teams, it’s quite something to witness, first hand, what having one of the best players in the world on your favorite team is like.
But if there is one problem with having a player as good as Matthews, it’s that he overshadows everyone he plays with. Almost nobody is talking about Mitch Marner right now, but if not for Matthews, we’d probably asking ourselves where Marner’s current season ranks on the all-time Toronto Maple Leafs Greatest Seasons List.
So let’s just forget about Matthews for two seconds and focus on what Marner has accomplished.
Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner
Currently, Marner has played in 54 games, he has 20 goals and 47 points for 67 total points, which is 3rd in the NHL scoring race, and over a full season would put him on a 101 point pace.
Though he’s 33 points behind McDavid for the Art Ross, Marner’s season has been nothing short of spectacular. Marner may be 3rd overall in scoring, but at 5v5 he is second behind McDavid with 45 points (McDavid has 54). His 3.12 points/60 is third in the NHL.
The Leafs get 51% of the shot-attempts with Marner on the ice, 53% of the shots, 59% of the scoring chances, and 58% of the expected-goals. His actual goals-for percentage is a berserk 64% with the Leafs outscoring the opposition 54-30 when Marner is on the ice 5v5. (stats from naturalstattrick.com).
In addition to Marner being one of the best offensive players in the NHL, Marner is also a quality defensive player, ranking above roughly 75% of NHL forwards in the defensive side of the game ( as per his @JFresh Player Card,) and being a solid contributor to the Toronto Maple Leafs Penalty Killing Unit.
Overall, Marner isn’t going to garner many Hart Trophy votes with McDavid, Matthews, and Crosby getting most of them, but he did have a fantastic season and, if not for the pandemic, would probably be getting his third straight 90 point season right now, something only Darryl Sittler has ever done in franchise history.
This season Marner has established himself as one of the NHL’s best players and is now in the conversation for best winger in the game. He only recently turned 24 and is already 25th on the all-time Toronto Maple Leafs scoring leaderboard. Matthews is a great player, but let’s not lose sight of how special Marner’s season was as well, just because we’re currently getting a bit spoiled.