The NHL preseason can only tell us so much. The results don't matter at all and since the rosters for each team can vary from 20 skaters who will all find themselves in the AHL next week, to basically having your full NHL lineup to show off to your home crowd; the individual performances can, again, only tell us so much.
For the Toronto Maple Leafs' first preseason bout at home last Saturday, we got a brief glimpse of some players but one moment certainly stood out and we cannot be more excited because of it.
Auston Matthews has been battling injuries for a couple years now. Whether it's an issue with his back that was causing him trouble, or the recent devastating knee injury thanks to Radko Gudas losing his mind for the 200th time in the last three years. While he's still put in solid seasons like last year's 27-goal, 53-point campaign in those 60 games, it's nowhere close to the Hart Trophy-winning form that he had.
But, on Saturday night in the first bit of preseason action, Matthews showed us a glimpse of his former self and now we might be truly back. He skated over 35 km per hour during open play, something that he hasn't done regularly in years.
Auston Matthews hit 35km/h just twice last season... He has already hit that speed tonight in preseason.@mike_p_johnson breaks it down. pic.twitter.com/34mbiB9FP5
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 20, 2026
As mentioned, during last season Matthews hit that top-level speed just twice. And in the 2024-25 season, he topped out at three times.
But going back to the seasons where he was admired for his play and could be considered one of the five best players in the world, he was hitting that speed like it was nothing. In the 2022-23 season, accoridng to NHL EDGE data, Matthews skated over 35 km/h a total of seven times.
Auston Matthews is so back and it means everything for the Leafs
Matthews skating this fast isn't a direct correlation to having a successful season, but after suffering the injuries that he did and looking a step behind like he often did throughout the last two years, it's a massive sign that he can get back up to that speed again.
Plus, if he's pulling out this level of intense skating during the first preseason game of all instances, then it might become an even more regular thing during the first couple months of the season.
It feels like eons ago that Matthews was scoring over 60 goals and scoring over 100 points with relative ease while being one of the NHL's top defensive forwards. He just has not looked like hismelf the past two seasons and now we're getting signs of life that we're seeing prime-age Matthews once again to revitalize this team into a new era.
Are the Leafs back? We will have to wait at least a few more weeks to make that statement. But we now have at least some relatively strong evidence that their best player is possibly back to leading this team in all areas of the ice.
Add us as a preferred source on Google