No. 1: Auston Matthews Wins Another Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy
Fans, and Auston Matthews, should not be disappointed in that fact that he didn't reach 70 goals this year, and instead, should be in-awe of the fact that he scored 69 goals. This was the most goals scored by a player in a single season in 30 years, yet it wasn't talked about as much as it should have been.
Matthews is so good at scoring goals that when he scored 40 goals last year, the storylines heading into the season were "Will Matthews Goal Scoring Bounce Back?".
Most NHLers go their entire careers without reaching 40 goals in a season, but Matthews scoring 40 felt like it was the end of the world. In eight seasons, Matthews has scored 40 or more goals six(!!) times now, which is insane. Alex Ovechkin only scored 40-plus in five of his first eight years, so put that into perspective.
The race to 70 goals was a fun one and gave us something to watch after the team's playoff-berth was set and they were locked into the third seed. Although he finished with 69 goals, this season needs to be celebrated because it may never happen again.
I know that Matthews is a machine and has multiple 60-goal season's now, but I wouldn't be shocked if he never reaches this number again.
I may be wrong and we could be talking about Matthews going for 82 goals in 82 games one day, but it's just so hard to reach the number he achieved this season. If William Nylander scored 69 goals this year, he would have been the clear-cut Hart Trophy winner, but since it's Matthews, we treat it like he's supposed to do it.
Matthews' 2023-24 season will go down as one of, if not, the greatest seasons in Leafs history, but it will take a few years for us to really appreciate it.