Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews
Auston Taylour Matthews (born September 17, 1997) is an American professional ice hockey player. Matthews hails from San Ramon, California. Matthews developed a love for hockey when as a child, he would watch the local Phoenix Coyotes play while growing up in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was drafted 1st overall at the NHL Entry Draft in 2016 by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Matthews is a 6 ft 3 in left shooting centerman; he is the first player in the modern era to score four goals in his first NHL game (2016-17) season. He also set a Leafs rookie record that season, scoring 40 goals in his rookie season, joining Alexander Ovechkin as just the second rookie to achieve the milestone since the 2004-05 lockout. He would win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie for 2016-17.
Childhood
When Auston was only two months old, he and his parents, Brian and Ema, moved from San Ramon, California, to Scottsdale, Arizona. While living in Arizona, Auston began to attend Phoenix Coyote games; from there, his love for hockey would blossom into a passion. At first, he only had a passive interest in the sport but was fascinated by the Zamboni ice resurfacer. After five, his interest in hockey began to grow when he joined the Arizona Bobcats minor hockey program. Growing up watching Coyote games, his favorite players were Daniel Briere and Shane Doan. On January 16, 2006, Matthews was in attendance when Ovechkin scored one of the most incredible goals in NHL history. Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals was playing on the road in Phoenix against the Coyotes when eight-year-old Auston Matthews watched as Ovechkin scored a goal while on his back and facing away from the net. Matthews would later say in a 2016 interview that “The Goal,” as it was referred to, was “probably one of the best goals ever.”
As a child, Matthews was proficient in baseball and hockey; he had exceptional baseball instincts. Still, because he disliked the slow pace of baseball, he chose to play hockey instead; his father felt that Auston was better as a baseball player.
Playing Career
Junior
In the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft, Matthews was chosen 57th overall by the Western Hockey League (WHL) Everett Silvertips. Instead of playing with the Silvertips, Matthews decided to join the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (USHL). In that season, Playing with the U.S. National U17, he began to draw the attention of NHL scouts. In his sophomore season with the U.S. U18, he gained even more notoriety when he finished first in scoring with 116 points, smashing the National Team Development Program record of 102 points registered by Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane in 2005-06 and finishing 29 points ahead of rival Buffalo Sabres star Jack Eichel.
Professional Career
Matthews played one season professionally before being drafted in the 2016 NHL Entry Daft. On August 7, 2015, he inked a one-year deal to play for the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League. His decision to join the Lions resulted from former NHL head coach and Lions head coach Marc Crawford. Crawford was instrumental in signing Matthews as he saw enormous potential in him. Crawford contacted Pat Brisson, Matthews’s agent, about signing him.
On February 3, 2016, Matthews and his Lions teammates captured the Swiss Cup with a 4-1 win over Lausanne HC; Matthews had two assists in the game. He finished that season second in team scoring and tenth in the league. His 1.28 points-per-game average was second in league scoring behind former Minnesota Wild NHLer Pierre-Marc Bouchard of EV Zug.
Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews
Matthews was drafted first overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, becoming the first American player to be selected number one since Patrick Kane in 2007. On July 21, 2016, Matthews and the Maple finalized their agreement after a minor dispute over player bonus incentives.
On October 12, 2016, Matthews hit the ice in the blue and white of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first time in a game against the Ottawa Senators. He would score four goals against Ottawas Craig Anderson, making it the first time in the modern NHL era that a player scored four goals in his NHL debut. Before this, only Joe Malone (Montreal Canadians) and Harry Hyland (Montreal Wanderers) scored five goals in their NHL debuts on December 19, 1917. Joe Malone is the only player in NHL history to have scored seven goals in a game, doing so in 1920, ironically against the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 31, 1920, while a member of the Quebec Bulldogs in a 10-6 victory. Harry Hyland scored eight goals in a game against the Quebec Bulldogs in 1912-13 pre-NHL.
During his rookie campaign, Matthews received several accolades. On January 10, 2017, he was the only Maple Leaf selected to play in the NHL All-Star Game. On March 28, 2017, he surpassed Wendal Clark’s record of most goals by a rookie in a season (34) by scoring his 35th goal. On April 3, 2017, he scored a goal earning him his 67th point and breaking the franchise record for points in a season, including the record for most goals by an American-born rookie. He finished the season with 40 goals. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year, the first Maple Leaf to do so since Brit Selby in 1966.
Matthews set an unofficial NHL record for most consecutive games with a shot on goal to start a career. On November 28, 2017, his streak came to an end in a 4-1 loss against the Calgary Flames.
Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews, the $58 Million Dollar Man
On February 5, 2019, Matthews signed a new contract with the Leafs for $58.17 million or $11.634 million annually. Matthews would continue to set team records for the Maple Leafs. He became the third-fastest Maple Leaf to score 100 or more goals from the start of his career when he scored his 100th and 101st goals on February 14, 2019. On February 25, 2019, he scored in a 5-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres to becoming the First Maple Leaf to score 30 or more goals in each of his first three seasons.
Off the Ice
In May 2019, Matthews apparently exposed his underwear to a female security guard in Scottsdale, Arizona. This led to him being charged with disorderly conduct in September 2019. On November 13, 2019, the charges were later dropped after Matthews settled with the complainant.
Rap artist SVDVM released a song named “Auston Matthews” in honor of his four-goal debut. At the 2019 NHL Awards in Las Vegas, Matthews was awarded the cover of the EA Sports video game NHL 20.
Matthew’s favorite sports personality growing up was the late Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. He most admires Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks) and Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings) for being solid all-around players on both sides of the puck.
On July 13, 2020, Matthews confirmed a Toronto Sun report on June 19, 2020, that he had tested positive for Covid-19 while at home in Scottsdale, Arizona. According to him, he was “mostly asymptomatic.”
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 2013–14 | U.S. National Development Team | USHL | 20 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2014–15 | U.S. National Development Team | USHL | 24 | 20 | 28 | 48 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2015–16 | ZSC Lions | NLA | 36 | 24 | 22 | 46 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 2016–17 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 82 | 40 | 29 | 69 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 2017–18 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 62 | 34 | 29 | 63 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2018–19 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 68 | 37 | 36 | 73 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| 2019–20 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 70 | 47 | 33 | 80 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| NHL totals | 282 | 158 | 127 | 285 | 46 | 25 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 2 |
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | United States | U17 |  | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | |
| 2014 | United States | WJC18 | | 7 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 | |
| 2015 | United States | WJC18 | | 7 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 0 | |
| 2015 | United States | WJC | 5th | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 2016 | United States | WJC |  | 7 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 2 | |
| 2016 | United States | WC | 4th | 10 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Team North America | WCH | 5th | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 32 | 25 | 19 | 44 | 18 | ||||
| Senior totals | 13 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 2 |
Awards and honors
| Award | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| USHL | ||
| USHL Third All-Star Team | 2014–15 | |
| NLA | ||
| Swiss Ice Hockey Cup gold medal with the ZSC Lions | 2015–16 | |
| NLA Rising Star Award | 2015–16 | |
| NLA Media All-Star Team | 2015–16 | |
| NLA Media Most Improved Player | 2015–16 | |
| NLA Youngster of the Year | 2015–16 | |
| NHL | ||
| Rookie of the Month | December 2016 | |
| NHL All-Star Game | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 | |
| Calder Memorial Trophy | 2017 | |
| NHL All-Rookie Team | 2017 | |
| EA Sports NHL cover athlete | 2020 | |
| International | ||
| World U-17 Hockey Challenge gold medal | 2014 | |
| IIHF World U18 Championship gold medal | 2014 | |
| IIHF World U18 Championship gold medal | 2015 | |
| IIHF World U18 Championship Most Valuable Player | 2015 | |
| IIHF World U18 Championship Media All-Star team | 2015 | |
| IIHF World U18 Championship scoring leader | 2015 | |
| Bob Johnson Award | 2015 | |
| IIHF World U20 Championship All-Star Team | 2016 |
Records
NHL
- Most goals scored in an NHL debut in the modern era (four goals), surpassing Alex Smart, Real Cloutier, Fabian Brunnström, and Derek Stepan (three goals).
- Most goals by an American-born rookie, surpassing Neal Broten, who scored 38 goals in his rookie season with the Minnesota North Stars in the 1981–82 season
- Most consecutive games with a shot on goal to start a career. He ended his 103-game streak in a 4–1 victory over the Calgary Flames on November 28, 2017.[42]
- The youngest player (age 21) records multiple points in each of his team’s first five games of a season, surpassing Wayne Gretzky (age 22).
Toronto Maple Leafs
- The Fastest Maple Leaf player to score 25 goals (52 games) surpassed Howie Meeker (58 games in 1946–47).[97]
- Most points by a rookie (69) surpassed Peter Ihnačák, who had 66 in the 1982–83 season.[98]
- Most goals by a rookie (40) surpassed Wendel Clark, who had 34 in the 1985–86 season.[99]
- He was the first (and only) Maple Leaf player to score at least 30 goals in the first four seasons of his career. Keep You’re
Keep Your Stick on the Ice.
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