Biggest Concern as Auston Matthews Tries to Regain 69-Goal Form

Auston Matthews made his much-anticipated return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup on Wednesday after missing the previous five games with a lower-body injury suffered back on November 11 in Boston. It came as somewhat of a surprise that the captain was available to play, given his practice limitations the day prior, but with the Maple Leafs in desperate need of points in the standings, his return was very much welcomed. 

Despite being held off the score sheet, Matthews looked pretty good in their 2-1 overtime win in Columbus, though most can agree it still wasn’t the vintage Matthews we’ve all become accustomed to watching. 

The guys on TSN’s OverDrive were discussing the superstar’s first game back on Thursday, and analysts Bryan Hayes and Jeff O’Neill were both left wondering whether he’ll get back to his Hart Trophy and Rocket Richard winning form. 

Hayes said:

“I thought he looked ok, my sense was he was kind of uncomfortable in traffic last night. That’s my concern with him, how comfortable he’s going to be with body contact… He was ok, wasn’t great, but it was his first game back,”

O’Neill said:

“It is his first game back. The one thing that concerns me is the shot. It seems like the shot doesn’t have the mustard; it’s like one of five has the mustard, like it used to, which is weird… I know it’s his first game back, but I have big expectations for that guy. Like I have the superstar expectations where it’s like I don’t care how much time you missed, I kind of expect you to be dominant and be the best player on the ice… You’re just looking for like, where did that guy go? Where is that guy? Is he going to reappear?”

The 28-year-old has produced 14 points (nine goals, five assists) through the 18 games he’s been healthy enough to play so far in 2025-26.

What to Make of Auston Matthews

After a down 2024-25 campaign, expectations were high for Matthews to bounce back this season, so a relatively underwhelming start combined with another injury has been far from ideal. 

As the OverDrive guys referred to, Matthews’ shot hasn’t quite looked the same, and he just hasn’t had that burst and explosivity to his game. He’s never been the type to rush end to end with the puck like Connor McDavid, but it does feel like he’s sometimes trying to get it off his stick as fast as possible.

Part of that can surely be attributed to the wear and tear of these injuries he’s had to deal with and battle through, but that’s a major problem given his recent troubles staying healthy.

That being said, Matthews is still productive when available, and asking for 60-goal seasons every year is unrealistic, even the greatest goal scorer of all-time, Alex Ovechkin, only achieved the feat once.

Would you like more from your best player who makes $13.25 million a year? Of course, but he brings a lot of other things to the table even when not scoring goals, so fans shouldn’t take Matthews for granted.

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