MATTHEWS MAYHEM

Nick De Cicco

With the Toronto Maple Leafs regular season schedule in full swing, there has been a multitude of positives and negatives coming to the forefront of this young season. The pressure of having a successful season has been constantly mentioned by the media and stirred controversy in the locker room.

One extremely important member of this historic franchise is Auston Matthews. In this piece, we will analyse the slow beginnings of the 2X defending Rocket Richard trophy winner and determine if Leafs Nation needs to be worried about the superstar center of the 6ix.

I know the season just started, the sample size is exceptionally small and the October tendencies have always swayed in this direction, but something seems off with the American alternative captain of the Maple Leafs.

One key indication to this start is Auston’s history with the first month of the hockey season. October has never been a very productive month for the 25-year old American. Off-season procedures to undisclosed injuries and major wrist surgery have slowed down Matthews’ beginning to the preseason and the foregoing regular season in the past.

In the first matchup of the season against the Dallas Stars, Auston Matthews suffered an apparent hip or rib injury after a brutal cross check from winger Jamie Benn. It was an incredibly sneaky move from the Stars veteran and Matthews was visibly uncomfortable after the encounter and the further shifts that game.

Based on Matthews’ recent shifts and cycles on the powerplay, Auston doesn’t seem to have the confidence had at the end of his memorable run in the 2021-22 season where he scored 60 goals to break the single-season Leafs record.

Despite the chances he’s had, the booming slapshot and wicked wrister hasn’t been as effective in recent games. You could argue that the passes to Matthews weren’t really crisp. The points on the scoreboard haven’t shown up in fantastic proportions, but Auston’s skating and defensive abilities have been incredible otherwise.

The Jets game was an emotional challenge for both teams and physicality was on the menu in every shift. Matthews has three assists during the game with a multitude of powerplay opportunities. Despite the points on the board, it seemed like he wasn’t at 100% and the ribs or hip was acting up.

The constant travelling with this western road trip won’t help Matthews with this lingering effect and maybe a couple games off could help. I would rather see the stars take some maintenance days before a major injury and significant time off. The added depth in the lineup is beneficial for the team to give the core players some time to rest.

Don’t get me wrong, Auston Matthews is an incredibly talented athlete for the buds, but his mental and physical health needs to be maintained to keep him healthy and achieve the phenomenal number he is destined to build upon. Leafs nation shouldn’t be worried as of yet because it’s very early in the season and Matthews should get in his scoring ways soon enough.