Reliving Auston Matthews Top 3 Moments from the 2023-24 NHL Season
Auston Matthews Sets Record For Most Goals In Salary Cap Era
Matthews scored his 66th goal of the season on April 9th, breaking Alex Ovechkin's previous record of 65 goals, the most scored in a single season in the salary cap era.
What was most impressive about Matthews's breaking this record was that it felt like there was no chance he would not.
For the majority of the season, Matthews maintained a 70-goal pace.
Despite not cracking the 70-goal mark, this is the most impressive season we have seen in a long time and likely won't be replicated again...unless he tops himself.
Beyond Auston Matthews insane goal scoring prowess, he was also among the NHL's best defensive forwards. How many more goals would he have if he ignored defense and just concentrated on scoring like Ovechkin?
And what about the 20 posts he hit? Surely that's just a bit of bad luck that prevented him from having an even better season. As it stands, when you adjust for the era, this is one of the best seasons in NHL history.
Detractors will look at the gaudy point totals of Nikita Kucherov and some of the other Hart contenders, but Matthews was just unlucky in picking up secondary assists. His 5v5 numbers and his primary assists put him in line with every other contender.
Only he scored almost 70 times and played elite defense.
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For that reason, Matthews deserves the Hart Trophy.