Auston Matthews Is the Toronto Maple Leafs All-Time Best Player
The Leafs star center is on his way to obliterating numerous records for an original-six, storied franchise. Postseason results aside, his projected numbers leave no doubt about his status as the greatest player in team history.
For their centennial celebration before the 2016 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs revealed a list of the one hundred greatest players in team history.
At the time, Dave Keon was selected as the Toronto Maple Leafs top player.
There is no denying his impressive credentials. He led the team's dynastic 1960s era and won four Stanley Cups.
He captured the Lady Bing Trophy twice, won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1967.
Keon played in over 1000 games for the Maple Leafs and ranks third on the team's all-time points list. He also played a strong, two-way game, highlighted by his defense against Montreal Canadiens legend Jean Beliveau during the 1967 Stanley Cup Final.
Voted number-two behind Keon, was Mat Sundin. The dependable Swedish center led the team in scoring for all but one of his thirteen seasons in Toronto.
He currently tops the Leafs all-time goals and points lists. The Leafs reached the Conference Final twice during his tenure.
An updated version of the Maple Leafs best all-time players would require a revision at the top. Auston Matthews, drafted the summer before the team's centennial celebration, now deserves the honor of being called the best player in franchise history.
Auston Matthews Is the Toronto Maple Leafs All-Time Best Player
Matthews is an amped-up combination of Sundin and Keon. He has size, consistency, and reliability like Sundin, but is a better goal-scorer.
He also plays a strong defensive game like Keon. Matthews' takeaways regularly outnumber his giveaways and this past season he was a finalist for the Selke Trophy recognizing a forward's defensive aspects of the game.
Like Keon, Matthews is gathering an impression collection of individual hardware. He has already won four major awards thus far in his career.
The list includes the Calder Trophy, the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy (3 times as the league's top goal scorer), the Hart Memorial Trophy (for Most Valuable Player), and the Ted Lindsay Award (Most Outstanding Player as voted by NHLPA members).
During the 2023-2024 season, his chase for seventy goals captivated the NHL. While falling one short of that milestone, Matthews set a new Leafs record with sixty-nine goals. He broke his team record of sixty achieved during the 2021-2022 season.
Matthews is an annual contender for the Rocket Richard Trophy. He will be a legitimate contender for the Lady Byng and Selke awards for years to come. There are likely to be more major NHL awards in his future.
In addition to that, he is setting new franchise standards in many important categories.
Matthews is Re-Writing the Leafs Record Book
Matthews already ranks third on the Maple Leafs all-time goal-scoring list with 368 goals, trailing only Darryl Sittler (389) and Sundin (420). He sits sixth on the all-time points list with 649.
Should Matthews have his average NHL season this year and score 54 goals, he would overtake Sundin atop the all-time goals list.
The biggest difference is that Matthews would have taken over 300 fewer games to achieve it.
Sundin played in a tighter-checking, lower-scoring NHL, but what Matthews has accomplished is remarkable.
Two more of his average point seasons and Matthews will be in Keon territory on the all-time Leafs list. Matthews' contract runs through the 2027-2028 season.
By the end of it, he should surpass Sundin's franchise mark for total points.
All this has been achieved before his 27th birthday. There are plenty of productive years still to come.
Lack of a Stanley Cup Shouldn't Tarnish Matthews' Greatness
Critics of Matthews will point to his lack of team success, specifically in the playoffs. The Maple Leafs have made the playoffs every year of his career, but have only reached the second round once.
While that hangs like an albatross on his resume, his achievements far overshadow it.
Parity reigns supreme in today's NHL. The last four seasons have seen four teams win the Stanley Cup. Over Matthews' career with the Leafs, seven teams have won a championship in eight seasons.
Teams that have won multiple titles since 2006 include the Pittsburgh Penguins (3), Chicago Blackhawks (3), Los Angeles Kings (2), and the Tampa Bay Lightning (2). They were all led by a core of star players (sound familiar Leafs fans?)
Alex Ovechkin, the likely soon-to-be NHL's all-time leading goal scorer, suffered similar playoff disappointment to Matthews until finally attaining a title in his 14th season. Steve Yzerman and Ray Bourque were Hall-of-Fame players that had a long wait for the ultimate team success. Connor McDavid, hockey's best player, came close but is still searching for a championship.
Winning it all is not a linear progression. Greatness does not need to be justified by team success. There are Hall of Fame players in all walks of professional sports who were blocked by other great players or circumstances that negated their chance of winning a championship.
Matthews still has time to lead the Maple Leafs to the ultimate team goal, but he does not need it to prove his status.
Auston Matthews is the Toronto Maple Leafs All-Time Best Player, Even Without a Cup
Matthews and his star teammates have yet to spark a long playoff run.
His postseason production is below his regular season standard but should correct itself over time.
Other events (untimely injuries, bad bounces, poor goaltending) have also contributed to the team's failures.
Auston Matthews has demonstrated a commitment and loyalty to the Leafs.
He has been paid handsomely to do so but has performed as a Top 5 NHL player and the best goal scorer in the league.
He is a combination of the previously voted two best players in team history. He has defensive awareness like Keon and is on pace to shatter Sundin's offensive numbers.
It defies the odds that a player of his caliber won't go on a long playoff run at some point. It is not needed though, to prove his worth as the best player in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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Auston Matthews is the best player to ever play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, ever.