The Toronto Maple Leafs have been handed a harsh but fair assessment of Auston Matthews and what to expect from him next season in the NHL.
On Friday’s edition of TSN’s Overdrive, Brian Hayes, Jeff O’Neill and Jamie McLennan discussed the odds of Matthews, 28, reaching 50 goals next season.
Opinions were understandably mixed but generally optimistic, though Hayes wanted to take a different approach and suggested a better question would be the odds of Matthews staying healthy throughout the season, because that will ultimately determine his goal-scoring output by the end of next season.
“He’s got to stay healthy. Like, you’re not chasing 50 if you play 60 games. You know, it’s not going to happen. In order for him to get to 50, he’s got to play 80 games, for sure,” he said.
Maple Leafs’ Matthews Must Play 80 Games to Reach 50 Goals
“You’re going to miss maybe a couple games here or there, but he’s got to play 80 games. And maybe that’s a better question. You know, what’s the percentage that he’s going to play a full season? Because he’s been injury-prone the last two years, and that is what has to happen first.”
“In order for him to get rocking again, got to be healthy. And it’s not healthy day one of camp. It’s healthy through the grind of the season, where you’re playing a lot of games, you have a target on your back every single night, and you got to fight through it. And like when he was at his best, the guy was playing every night.”
Hayes wanted to make it clear that he believes Matthews can reach 50 goals next season because he’s a player capable of doing it. However, on one hand, the Leafs captain has to stay healthy, and on the other, there is also the question of the coaching change.
“You can’t chase awards. You can’t be the best player on your team if you don’t play enough. Yeah. So that’s the first thing that he obviously would be focused on if he is healthy. I’m high on the idea of him scoring 50 because he’s just, he’s that good at goal scoring. Like he’s that capable of finding opportunities. And I think the coaching change is pretty significant here too. You know, Berube was asking him to do different things.”
Following the structural changes in the front office during the offseason, John Chayka is now the Leafs’ new general manager, and he hired Jim Hiller as the franchise’s new head coach.
Maple Leafs Get Harsh-but-Fair Auston Matthews Truth Ahead of NHL Season