Toronto Maple Leafs: Matthews Can Break Gretzky’s Goal Record

The NHL is rich in tradition as is the over a century old Toronto Maple Leafs.

One of the league’s longest standing records now appears to be in jeopardy and it can be one of the Toronto Maple Leafs who takes it down.

There are a number of records that may never be broken.

One of the most harrowed belongs to the Great One, Wayne Gretzky. Over the span of his 20 year career in the NHL, he scored an incredible 894 goals.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews vs Wayne Gretzky

Gretzky started his career in the WHA. He played one season and scored 46 goals. Those don’t even count towards his NHL total. When he joined the Edmonton Oilers at age 19, the count began. He scored 51 goals that year. Gretzky followed that up with a 55 goal campaign. That led to his best total and the most goals every scored in a single season, 92. Over the next four seasons, he notched 71, 87, 73, and 52 goals.

In total, through Gretzky’s first seven NHL seasons, he netted a total of 481 goals. Matthews is nowhere near that mark after his seventh year. He’s recorded 299 career goals, which is 182 fewer than Gretzky by this point.

Over the next 13 years, the Great One registered an additional 413 goals. He had slowed down his scoring in his later years.

Only two other players have ever pierced the 800 goal mark. They are Gordie Howe who potted 801 and Alexander Ovechkin who has 822.

Ovechkin notched 339 goals through his first seven NHL seasons. While Gretzky’s first seven-year pace was untouchable, Ovechkin has found a way to near the 894 total. It’s been through longevity. Ovechkin looks like he could be the player to finally break Gretzky’s record.

It has taken Ovechkin 18 years to reach 822 goals. That’s just 72 goals away from 894, an attainable mark in just two seasons.

Matthews was a year younger than Ovechkin when he started in the NHL. That may help in the long run when Matthews is deep into his career looking to beat Gretzky’s mark. Of course, by then, it may be Ovechkin who is the all-time record holder. However, we’re just concentrating on the number we know, 894.

Matthews has averaged 42.71 goals per season. If he were to play 20 years, just like Gretzky, it would take him up to 854 goals. That’s assuming the pace stays the same and doesn’t improve or decline. It would mean Matthews is just one season shy of eclipsing Gretzky’s record in the same length of time.

At the same pace, in year 21, Matthews would end up scoring 897 goals. While a lot has to go right for that to happen, it’s not unreasonable to believe it can. (stats nhl.com).

While Matthews may never have an individual season as impressive as Gretzky’s, over his career, the Maple Leaf has a chance of seeing his name next to the elite of the game.