For all the changes the Toronto Maple Leafs have made this offseason in an attempt to improve, the return to form of their captain, Auston Matthews, might be the most important.
Matthews underperformed in 2025-26, even before his season-ending knee injury. He scored a career-worst 27 goals and 53 points across 60 games and never looked close to the form that the Maple Leafs and their fans have grown accustomed to.
The new Leafs front office, general manager John Chayka and advisor Mats Sundin, has reshaped the organization in hopes of returning to the playoffs in 2026-27. A bounce-back season from Matthews will go a long way towards achieving that goal. So what are realistic expectations for the former 60-goal scorer?
Matthews Expected to Return to His Elite Goal-Scoring Ways
In a recent episode of TSN's OverDrive, Toronto Star reporter Dave Feschuk stated his expectations of Matthews for the upcoming season. He called a Matthews renaissance the most important item in setting the tone for the Toronto sports scene this year. He said, "It's Auston Matthews starting to act like a captain and getting back to scoring 50 goals."
OverDrive host Bryan Hayes called it interesting that Matthews' leadership is connected directly to his scoring goals, saying, "That is when he is most likely most comfortable and feeling like he's contributing the most." Despite being an all-around player and being capable of doing other things, Hayes said, "For him to pop and feel emboldened in terms of leadership, it's got to be tied to goal scoring. That's why he's getting paid."
Hayes noted that Matthews will likely remain a top-ten paid player in the NHL over the next two years. He claimed that for Matthews to make the impact he is capable of, he has to return to being the world's best goal scorer.
"There was a time a few years ago where it was just expected. It was almost a formality he was going to win the Rocket. I think he's got to get back into contention on that, and 50-plus goals would certainly do that." Hayes agreed with Feschuk's outlook, then added, "That (50 goals) should be a bare minimum expectation."
"That (50 goals) should be a bare minimum expectation."Bryan Hayes on Auston Matthews
Feschuk called scoring goals the best way for Matthews to lead the Maple Leafs. He then listed numerous examples of Toronto's lack of leadership in 2025-26, such as Anthony Stolarz calling out his teammates early in the year and the lack of a response to Radko Gudas's knee-on-knee hit on Matthews. He called it Matthews' responsibility as the Leafs' highest-paid player and captain to set the tone that last season was unacceptable.
Treating a 50-goal milestone as a "bare minimum" highlights the unique pressure of the Toronto media market. For almost any other NHL player, a 50-goal campaign is a career peak, but for the Maple Leafs captain, it is now treated as the baseline. Whether this lofty expectation from the OverDrive panel is fair or completely absurd, one thing is certain for the 2026-27 season: the bar has never been higher for Matthews.
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