{"id":1140,"date":"2023-02-14T18:09:27","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T18:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/?p=1140"},"modified":"2023-02-14T18:09:28","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T18:09:28","slug":"taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Auston Matthews is simply an amazing hockey player. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthews has significantly impacted the Toronto Maple Leafs since he first laced up his skates with the team. His impressive goal-scoring and overall skill as a player have played a key role in the team’s success in recent years.\u00a0They help make the Maple Leafs one of the most exciting NHL teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Matthews’ presence on the team has helped to revitalize a franchise that had been struggling for many years. As a young and talented player, Matthews\u2019 emergence jump-started Maple Leafs’ success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Maple Leafs\u2019 fans have to hope he will continue to be a central part of the Maple Leafs’ success for many years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO EX-MAPLE LEAFS\u2019 JOSH HO-SANG?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Matthews Joined the Team: What a Change!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the seven seasons before Matthews, the Maple Leafs’ record was 225-248-57. Their average overall finish was 24th place, and that was bolstered by a ninth-place finish in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the seven seasons since Matthews arrived, the Maple Leafs’ record has been 292-163-61. Their average overall finish has been fifth place.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Even with this season incomplete and COVID-19 shortened, they\u2019ve won 67 more games. The team\u2019s average overall finish in those five seasons has improved by almost 20 places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The numbers show how significant the Maple Leafs\u2019 turnaround has been since Auston Matthews joined the team. The team has a considerably higher winning percentage and has finished higher in the standings on average than in previous seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blame that success on Matthews. As much as anyone, the improvement in the team’s fortunes can be traced to Matthews’ impact. His play has elevated his teammates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While individual players cannot win games alone, Matthews has certainly played a vital role in the Maple Leafs’ success in recent years. He\u2019s the team\u2019s swagger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: Maple Leafs Trade Deadline Prediction: Adding Josh Anderson<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Does Matthews Compare to Other Current NHL Greats?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no question that Matthews has been the best player on the Maple Leafs over the past seven seasons. The Maple Leafs have turned the franchise around with Matthews as its centrepiece.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Matthews has been an exceptional goal scorer in his short career so far, he still has a long way to go to match the NHL’s all-time greats like Ovechkin, Gretzky, Howe, and Jagr. Ovechkin is considered by many to be the best goal scorer in NHL history and has scored 812 goals in his career. That\u2019s well ahead of Matthews’ current total of 284 goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, If Matthews Stays Healthy, Watch Out<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Matthews will need to maintain his high level of play over a long period and continue to score at a high rate to have a chance to compete with the all-time greats in goal scoring.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Michael Bunting and Auston Matthews, Maple Leafs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If he stays with the Maple Leafs, Matthews will continue to impact the history of the Maple Leafs significantly. There\u2019s a good chance that, when the ice has melted on Matthews\u2019 career, he\u2019ll go down as the best player ever to don the Blue and White uniform of the Toronto Maple Leafs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time to Appreciate This Young Star for Helping Make Hockey Exciting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every once in a while, it’s good to sit and ponder Matthews\u2019 impact on the team\u2019s past, present, and future. How can Maple Leafs’ fans not be impressed with his goal-scoring abilities at such a young age?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a lot to be excited about over the next few seasons in Toronto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: Could the Maple Leafs Get Conor Garland and Move Alex <\/a>Kerfoot?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every once in a while, it’s good to take a minute to appreciate the greatness of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews. He’s amazing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[90,35],"class_list":["post-1140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-toronto-maple-leafs","tag-alex-ovechkin","tag-auston-matthews"],"yoast_head":"\nTaking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Every once in a while, it's good to take a minute to appreciate the greatness of the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews. He's amazing!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every once in a while, it's good to take a minute to appreciate the greatness of the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews. He's amazing!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Old Prof Hockey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.parsons.140\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.parsons.140\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-14T18:09:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-14T18:09:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Auston-Matthews-expensive-Upper-Deck-cards.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"oldprof\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Taking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Every once in a while, it's good to take a minute to appreciate the greatness of the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews. He's amazing!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Auston-Matthews-expensive-Upper-Deck-cards.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheOldProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheOldProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"oldprof\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"oldprof\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/81a8c3725c205de50e2cb8240b64d72f\"},\"headline\":\"Taking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-14T18:09:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-14T18:09:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/\"},\"wordCount\":618,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/81a8c3725c205de50e2cb8240b64d72f\"},\"keywords\":[\"Alex Ovechkin\",\"Auston Matthews\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Toronto Maple Leafs\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/\",\"name\":\"Taking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-14T18:09:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-14T18:09:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"Every once in a while, it's good to take a minute to appreciate the greatness of the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews. He's amazing!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Taking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/\",\"name\":\"Old Prof Hockey\",\"description\":\"Random Thoughts About The NHL from an Old Prof\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/81a8c3725c205de50e2cb8240b64d72f\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/81a8c3725c205de50e2cb8240b64d72f\",\"name\":\"oldprof\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Old-Prof-avatar.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Old-Prof-avatar.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"oldprof\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.parsons.140\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheOldProf\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/author\/oldprof1976\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Taking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews","description":"Every once in a while, it's good to take a minute to appreciate the greatness of the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews. He's amazing!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Taking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews","og_description":"Every once in a while, it's good to take a minute to appreciate the greatness of the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews. He's amazing!","og_url":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/","og_site_name":"Old Prof Hockey","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.parsons.140","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.parsons.140","article_published_time":"2023-02-14T18:09:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-14T18:09:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Auston-Matthews-expensive-Upper-Deck-cards.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"oldprof","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Taking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews","twitter_description":"Every once in a while, it's good to take a minute to appreciate the greatness of the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews. He's amazing!","twitter_image":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Auston-Matthews-expensive-Upper-Deck-cards.jpg","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheOldProf","twitter_site":"@TheOldProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"oldprof","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/"},"author":{"name":"oldprof","@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/81a8c3725c205de50e2cb8240b64d72f"},"headline":"Taking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews","datePublished":"2023-02-14T18:09:27+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-14T18:09:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/"},"wordCount":618,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/81a8c3725c205de50e2cb8240b64d72f"},"keywords":["Alex Ovechkin","Auston Matthews"],"articleSection":["Toronto Maple Leafs"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/","url":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/","name":"Taking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-02-14T18:09:27+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-14T18:09:28+00:00","description":"Every once in a while, it's good to take a minute to appreciate the greatness of the Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews. He's amazing!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/14\/taking-minute-appreciate-maple-leafs-auston-matthews\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Taking a Minute to Appreciate Maple Leafs\u2019 Auston Matthews"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/","name":"Old Prof Hockey","description":"Random Thoughts About The NHL from an Old Prof","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/81a8c3725c205de50e2cb8240b64d72f"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/81a8c3725c205de50e2cb8240b64d72f","name":"oldprof","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Old-Prof-avatar.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Old-Prof-avatar.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"oldprof"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.parsons.140","https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheOldProf"],"url":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/author\/oldprof1976\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1140"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1144,"href":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1140\/revisions\/1144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldprof.nhltradetalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}