One day very soon, Auston Matthews is going to elevate his status with the Toronto Maple Leafs even higher. The team captain is on the cusp of etching his name permanently into the team's record books (again).
Having already risen to second place in all-time goals for the club, ahead of legendary figures such as Darryl Sittler, Dave Keon and Rick Vaive, it's now only a matter of time before he snags the goal record overtaking Mats Sundin for most regular season goals all-time for the Maple Leafs.
Which other of Mats Sundin's all-time records will Auston Matthews compete for this season? Let's have a look.
How soon could Auston Matthews pass Mats Sundin?
Mats Sundin holds a number of Toronto Maple Leafs scoring records; he has the most regular-season goals (420), most regular season points (987), most regular season powerplay goals (124) and the most regular season game-winning goals (79) to his name. Unfortunately, the playoffs are a different matter, but we live in eternal hope.
Current goal total and projecting when Matthews breaks Sundin's record
The regular season goal-scoring crown is likely to be Auston Matthews within a matter of months. The current Leafs captain is already at 401 goals and given he scores at a rate of 0.64 goals per game, you could take bets on him snagging goal No. 421 and the sole ownership of the all-time Leafs goal scoring record around game 31 (on the road in Edmonton for anyone wondering).
Even if Matthews has another down year (which we're all hoping was a blip), there's next to no chance he doesn't score the 20 goals he needs to topple Sundin. While it speaks volumes for his goal-scoring ability, it also speaks to a Leafs record book that has some surprisingly low all-time figures for a hundred-plus year old team. Wild as it is, people still think Matthews may one day break the league all-time record that Ovechkin broke last season.
What about Sundin's other goal scoring records - when might Matthews break them?
This is a more interesting question because ever season of his Maple Leafs career thus far, by and large Matthews has had Mitch Marner feeding him the puck on the power play. Obviously, Marner's departure is going to result in a different look to the powerplay.
Right now the Leafs captain has 104 powerplay goals to his name, 20 shy of Sundin's 124 and 16 shy of Darryl Sittler's 120; it remains to be seen how many he can add on the man advantage this season. Measured on his career average powerplay goals per game, Matthews expects to score every 0.17 games. Across a season, that measures out to roughly 14 powerplay goals, so both Sittler and Sundin may be safe. For now.
However, when it comes to game-winners, I think we should be expecting more from Matthews. With Marner gone and John Tavares ageing, this truly is Matthews and Nylander's team now (though Matthew Knies may push into that group eventually). Auston currently shares second-place all-time in game winning goals for the team with Dave Keon on 63, Mats Sundin's tally is 79.
I think Leafs Nation would be hoping for 17 game winning goals out of their captain, though much like the powerplay crown, career averages might see this record hold on for one more season - Matthews gets a game winner at a rate of 0.1 per game or 1 in every 10 games. Across a full 82-game season, the statistics top out at 8 game-winners, which puts the record 9 away.
Now obviously all of this is based on career averages and the departure of his long-time line mate could mean many things - it could galvanize Matthews to truly put the team on his back and some of these records could fall as a result. Or it could slow his pacing to some extent, especially on the powerplay.
What breaking these records does for Matthews's legacy in Toronto
Simply put, it'd further the argument that he is an all-time great for the club. As if a four-goal debut almost a decade ago didn't already cement some level of legendary status, toppling veritable Leafs legends - players with statues and retired numbers, simply builds an even greater argument.
Sections of the fanbase will always argue that Matthews legacy is incomplete until this iteration of the Maple Leafs lifts the Stanley Cup and while I agree to some extent, his individual legacy already puts him into rarified air; 60-goal seasons, the Calder, the Hart, the Rocket Richard - it's hard to argue with the accolades.