Maple Leafs Need More From Auston Matthews

The Toronto Maple Leafs knew that life would be different this season. It was a long time coming after years of underachieving in the postseason, but the sting of breaking up the Core Four in Toronto still lingers.

There’s no one more affected in the Maple Leafs by Mitch Marner’s exit than their captain, Auston Matthews. Arguably the best scorer to enter the NHL since Alex Ovechkin debuted in 2005, the Leafs need way more from their captain than they are getting to begin the 2025-2026 campaign.

No Running Mate

Matthews is currently fourth on the roster in scoring to begin the year. He has five goals and three assists for eight points in 11 games. For many players, that stat line is a strong start, but for Matthews it’s a serious regression.

Something that is emerging is the lack of line mates for Matthews. The Leafs have tried a few combinations of wingers with their captain to start the year, but they haven’t landed on that right combination yet.

So far this year, the Leafs have tried to plug Matthew Knies, Easton Cowan, Willy Nylander and most recently Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson. There’s been moments of success, it’s not like the offense has completely evaporated in Toronto, but no combination has come close to anything Matthews is used to on his line.

That’s where Marner’s absence feels so heavy. When things went stale in Toronto in years prior, there was a fail safe option of putting Matthews and Marner together. The two superstars sparked each other’s creativity and provided a safety blanket of confidence for the Leafs to turn to.