Washington Capitals’ superstar forward, Alex Ovechkin, recently finished his chase for greatness when he scored the 895th goal of his career, passing Wayne Gretzky and becoming the NHL’s all-time leader in goals. After his impressive accomplishment, some fans around the league started to wonder if anyone could even come close to breaking the record again or even passing Gretzky’s 894 again, with attention turning to Toronto Maple Leafs’ forward, Auston Matthews.
Matthews, who has been praised for his offensive dominance and ability to score from anywhere on the ice, seems to be the next player in line who could even come close to reaching the milestone, but he isn’t focused on chasing it.
Related: Maple Leafs’ Connection to Connor McDavid is Unrealistic; Oilers Fans Shouldn’t Panic
“That’s such a long way to go. I don’t think I should even be in that conversation,” Matthews said. He added, “This guy just broke the record. I’m so far away from that, and I think it shouldn’t really be a focus on myself.” Matthews is having a bit of a slower season offensively after coming off of a 69-goal campaign where fans thought he could start to push the 75-goal plateau, but injuries this season have made his numbers drop. This season, he still has an impressive 30 goals and 41 assists for 71 points through 61 games, but fans have still been surprised at his slight decrease in production.
Matthews has 398 career goals through 623 games, which comes out to an impressive 0.64 goals-per-game average. He has also added 322 assists for 720 points, which is a 1.16 points-per-game average in his career. Despite not being focused on the record, there is a legitimate path for Matthews to get close to becoming the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, especially if he can get back to producing at a level near where he was in the 2023-24 season.
Maple Leafs Focused on Playoff Run, Not Scoring Record
The Maple Leafs’ main focus this season is winning their first Stanley Cup since 1967, rather than individual records or milestones. They have built an unfortunate reputation of not being able to get out of the first round due to their lack of success in the postseason over the last several seasons, and they came up short again last season, losing in seven games to the Boston Bruins. Their current first-round opponent is up in the air as they may end up playing one of the Florida Panthers or Ottawa Senators, but either way, they’re looking to finally make a deep run.
The Maple Leafs went all out to improve their lineup before the 2024-25 campaign, bolstering their defensive depth with the signings of Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who have both played extremely well. They also improved their goaltending depth, adding Anthony Stolarz, who has been a rock between the pipes.
At the 2025 Trade Deadline, they acquired Brandon Carlo from the Boston Bruins, Scott Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers and dumped Connor Dewar and Conor Timmins to the Pittsburgh Penguins to free up some cap space. Carlo and Laughton haven’t been amazing by any means, but they should be stronger once the postseason comes around.
At the end of the day, the Maple Leafs have done what they can to try and win a championship and have essentially gone all in to try and end their long Stanley Cup drought. Time will tell what happens in the playoffs, but one thing is for sure: the team is focused on winning it all, not individual milestones or awards.
As the 2024-25 season moves along, be sure to continue following The Hockey Writers as your source for news from around the NHL and the hockey world.
