The Toronto Maple Leafs will rely on Auston Matthews to lead their team and offense.
Matthews is arguably the best goal scorer in the NHL, but he is coming off a lackluster season. He dealt with injuries last year as he recorded just 33 goals in 67 games. The year prior, Matthews had 69 goals, which was the second time in his career that he scored 60.
In the offseason, Matthews’ top playmaker, Mitch Marner, left, which could hinder his ability to score this year. However, NHL analyst Spencer Lazary of The HockeyWriters expects Matthews to record 60+ goals again.
“The last prediction is that the aforementioned Matthews will return to his elite scoring form and hit 60 goals again for the third time in his nine-year career. As mentioned earlier, he dealt with injuries all last season and finished with 33 goals in 67 games,” Lazary wrote. “If he is back to full health, there is a very good chance he will be motivated to prove that he can still be one of the best players in the league without Marner.
“As soon as Marner left this summer, there was plenty of talk that Matthews would not be the same without him. I disagree,” Lazary added. “Matthews thrives when people doubt him, and that will fuel him to have one of the best seasons of his career… He should be a strong bet to score at least 60 goals in 2025-26.”
If Matthews does score 60+ goals again, it would be a good sign for the Maple Leafs’ offense. It would likely mean Toronto is once again one of the best teams in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference.
Maple Leafs’ Matthews is Confident He’ll be 100% Healthy
Matthews dealt with injuries last season, as he went to Germany during the season to get checked out.
After Toronto was eliminated from the playoffs, Matthews wouldn’t reveal what the injury was, but he says he will be healthy for the start of the year.
“Definitely a tough year physically,” Matthews said on May 20. “But I’m confident with some time off and just going through my own process and treatment and everything. I’m really confident I’ll be back 100 percent next season and it’s nothing for me to worry about.”
Matthews said the injury happened in training camp and was something he just had to play through. But he believes the time off in the offseason will benefit him.
“I don’t need to get into the specifics of stuff, but I got injured in training camp, wasn’t feeling great through the first month of the season,” Matthews said. “There were some good stretches where I felt good. There were some stretches where I didn’t feel very good.”
Matthews’ 33 goals were the lowest of his career.
Matthews Will Play Without Marner
For the first time in his career, Matthews won’t be playing alongside Marner.
Marner was part of a sign-and-trade to the Vegas Golden Knights and was a key reason for plenty of Matthews’ goals. As it looked like Marner would leave this offseason, after Toronto was eliminated, the Maple Leafs captain admitted it would be tough to play without Marner.
“Yeah, it’s tough. I mean, he’s a brother. He’s such a good teammate, friend,” Matthews said. “We’re extremely close, he’s extremely close with a lot of guys on the team. He’s a big part of our team and has been a big part of our team. Unfortunately, that’s kind of the nature of the business. People come and go and I don’t know, he has the right to make his own decision. Obviously, we all love him very much and like I said, he’s an amazing person and an amazing teammate.”
Who will replace Marner and play with Matthews on the Maple Leafs’ top line is uncertain.
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