Insider Highlights the Changing and Potential New Reality for Auston Matthews

What’s wrong with Auston Matthews? That was the question Toronto Maple Leafs fans—and much of the hockey world—were asking throughout the first three months of the 2025-26 season and, quite frankly, for most of 2024-25 as well. A brief stretch after the Christmas break looked like the Hart Trophy version of Matthews we had grown accustomed to seeing, but even that surge began to taper off heading into the Olympic break.

The Maple Leafs captain now faces significant pressure at the Olympics wearing the “C” for his country—a decision many criticized before the tournament even began. That’s largely because, as good as he still is, some around the league no longer view Matthews as the dominant force he once was.

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It’s been difficult to pinpoint exactly why that’s the case. However, a recent in-depth piece by Michael Russo took a deep dive into what Matthews is now—and whether this version is simply the new reality moving forward.

Russo wrote:

“Matthews is still an outstanding player, capable of scoring in bunches unlike nearly any other player in the league. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s slick. But he’s not the guy who scored 69 goals — an almost-unfathomable total in the modern-day NHL — and posted 107 points just two seasons ago. He battled through injury last season and plummeted to just 33 goals in 67 games. This year, he’s on pace for 41, but he’s under a point-per-game rate for the first time since his rookie season back in 2016-17, and he just isn’t the dominating, all-zones presence the hockey world had grown accustomed to. There’s whispers he might be playing through something again, but maybe we’re all just grasping for some kind of explanation for his drop-off.”

Russo added, “Make no mistake, Matthews is still very, very good. He may even be great. But he’s not what he was, and he hasn’t been for a while now.”

The 28-year-old Matthews has recorded 48 points (26 goals, 22 assists) in 51 games for Toronto this season—very good production by most standards, but a noticeable step down from the gaudy numbers we’ve seen him rack up when at the top of his game.

Can Auston Matthews Get Back to That Next Gear?

Russo puts it perfectly: Matthews is still a great player—but there’s a massive difference between being great and belonging in the upper echelon of true top-five-to-seven players in the world, a tier he had long been viewed as part of, and deservedly so.

Guys like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl, Nikita Kucherov, and even David Pastrnak rarely slow down. They consistently put their teams on their backs and produce regardless of who they’re playing with. Very few in the NHL can do that, and that’s what separates them from even the elite tier, which Matthews still occupies.

There were signs that the three-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner was beginning to rediscover that level to start the new year. Matthews remains incredibly skilled and smart, and when he has his legs under him, is relentless on the forecheck and backcheck—a true two-way force who is a handful to contain.

He still brings that nightly, but what has been noticeably lacking more often than not is the explosiveness and lethal shot that once placed him firmly in the class with McDavid and company. There are plenty of possible explanations for why that is, but no one truly knows the answer—and we may never find out.

Ultimately, tapping back into that next gear will determine whether Matthews remains an elite center hovering around point-per-game production or reclaims his status as a bona fide superstar—one who keeps opponents up at night, wondering if they’ll even be able to slow him down, let alone stop him.

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