Auston Matthews is on verge of goal explosion for Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has quickly dispelled the biggest question surrounding his play this season: How would he bounce back following last year’s season-ending knee injury?

Well, that question has been pretty much solved. The NHL named Matthews its first star of the week after he recorded three goals and six assists for nine points in three games this past week. Those numbers included a four-point night against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

The Leafs’ all-time leading goal scorer looks like his old self again. And that could be the main reason to suggest he’s on the verge for a goal explosion. In fact, you could bet on Matthews hitting 50 tallies this season.

Heck, why not bet on Matthews notching his third 60-goal season?

Matthews looked unshackled now that Jim Hiller has taken over. It’s almost as though the burden of playing under Craig Berube's grinding system has been lifted off his back. And yes, Matthews remains a highly underrated two-way forward in the NHL.

But now, the path forward is to allow Matthews to shoot more and play to his strengths. Instead of forcing him to become a 20-goal defensive center, Hiller has allowed Matthews to run amok. That’s exactly what the Maple Leafs lacked last season, and it’s the main factor that could push the former first-overall pick back to the top of the NHL goal-scoring conversation.

Auston Matthews and William Nylander finally look like a solid unit

When the Leafs traded for Kirill Marchenko, it looked like Matthews and Marchenko would become a fixture with Jack Roslovic. Well, Hiller didn’t hesitate to try William Nylander with Roslovic and Matthews.

And the results have spoken for themselves.

Nylander torched the Avalanche to the tune of five points on Saturday night. But beyond the evident results on the scoresheet, Nylander and Matthews look so good together. It’s incredible to think they have played together in the past, but have never looked quite as comfortable together.

Perhaps the biggest difference is that previous experiments involved loading up the top line with Matthews, Nylander and Mitch Marner. Marner is gone, naturally, and it seems that Matthews and Nylander, as a duo, have been able to click.

And so, Hiler is likely thinking about not fixing something that ain’t broken. If Matthews and Nylander are clicking so well right now, why break up a good thing?

I would venture to make one prediction: If both Matthews and Nylander continue their strong play throughout the season, it wouldn’t be strange to see both stars hit 50 goals this season. If that’s the case, the strong offensive showing could be enough to propel the Maple Leafs into a strong playoff run.

Many will say that 50 goals during the regular season is meaningless in the playoffs. But there might just be hope that things will be different with Sergei Bobrovsky now in the picture.

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