During the 2022 NHL Awards ceremony, Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews walked away with three different individual awards and he just may top that this year.
Matthews would easily say he would rather bring a Stanley Cup to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, but for now fans will have to settle for individual accomplishments.
Wednesday afternoon, a day after finding out he would not be a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the league's Most Valuable Player as voted by the writers, he found out he was acknowledged as one of the finalist for the more prestige award, the Ted Lindsay Trophy.
Many players will say they would rather win the Ted Lindsay award over the Hart Trophy as the one is voted by their peers, while the other is voted by the writers. During the 2022 season, Matthews was handed both awards to the disapproval of Edmonton Oilers fans, while also taking home his second Rocket Richard Trophy as the leading goal scorer.
Auston Matthews Is a Scoring Machine
This season it is already known that the Arizona native has won his third Rocket trophy after setting the record for most goals scored in single season during the salary cap era with 69, finishing with 21% more goals than the second place Sam Reinhart.
Along with leading the league in goals, Matthews also dominated five on five hockey and collected 51 even strength goals. The former Calder Trophy winner also finished fourth in primary points with 93, just one point behind Connor McDavid for third place.
Joining Matthews as the two other finalists are Tampa Bay Lightning Nikita Kucherov and Colorado Avalanche Nathan MacKinnon.
Kucherov has taken home his second Art Ross this season after he led the league with 144 points, as well as tying McDavid in assists with 100. Kucherov won the Ted Lindsay trophy in 2019 and is currently a finalist for the Hart Trophy.
Like Kucherov, MacKinnon is a finalist for the Hart Trophy after finishing second in the league in points with 140, while recording his first 50-goal season. MacKinnon has never won the Ted Lindsay, but has taken home the Lady Byng (2020) and Calder Trophy (2014).
In addition to being nominated for the Ted Lindsay Trophy, Matthews has also been named a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Award as the league's top defensive forward and the Lady Byng Trophy as the player exhibiting "the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct".