I hate to say it but Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews is potentially costing this team an opportunity of a lifetime right now.
I haven't written about the Toronto Maple Leafs much lately. Life has been extremely hectic for me and instead of finding time to write, I've been trying to enjoy the playoff ride. The Ottawa series was a bumpy ride for 72 hours, but other than that, it was smooth sailing. The same applied for the first two games against the Panthers, but unfortunately my blood pressure has now risen to scary levels after the trip to Florida.
If you would have told me that the series was tied 2-2 through four games, I would be fine with that. However, Game 4's loss and Matthews' inability to score thus far has driven me back to my computer to write a few words.
I'm not sure how many people view this website with hopes to read what I write but if there is one person out there, I applaude you, and you know just how much I love Auston Matthews. From being drafted No. 1 overall, to winning multiple Rocket Richard trophies and an MVP, I have pumped the tires of this player for many years, going as far as saying that he is the greatest Leaf of all-time.
With over 400 career goals in only 629 games, Matthews is arguably the only player who has a chance to beat Alex Ovechkin's career goal record, but when it comes to the playoffs, he's scoring at essentially the same level as Nazem Kadri. Yes you read that right. When you make $13M, are the captain, and have been the NHL's best goal-scorer three of the last nine years, you can't fall to a second-line centre's level. Instead, you need to be elite every night.
Auston Matthews' game is simply not good enough right now
If you just look at this stat line, you would see that Matthews has 10 points in 10 games, which you could brush off and say "that's fine." A point-per game player is still really good, right? Wrong. For an elite talent, Matthews should be averaging well past a point per game and should have way more than two goals by now.
I'm not going to speculate on injury, but it's pretty obvious something is bothering him. He's continued to miss multiple pre-game skates and his shot just isn't hitting the way it used to be. Not only that, but his shots per game are well below what it was the last time he played Florida. In 2023, Matthews also couldn't score, but he at least averaged 5.2 shots per game, while this series, he's only averaging 3.5 shots per game..
If you think it's unfair to compare Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, you're just protecting Matthews. We're talking about a player who has scored 60 goals in a season twice, yet he's getting outplayed by Corey Perry in the playoffs so far. Why is that Mikko Rantanen can suddenly score nine goals in 10 playoff games, but Matthews' most he's ever scored is five goals in 11 games two years ago?
For once, I would just love for the Leafs best player to have the game of his life and put this team on his back because although you don't need it every night, you need it at least once per series to move on, and unfortunately we haven't seen that yet. Maybe Matthews is saving this huge peformance for Game 5, but at this rate, my money is on him going goalless.
I don't want to throw away that Matthews jersey that I love, but if he continues to play the way he does, I promise you that jersey will never have a Stanley Cup patch on it.