With Mitch Marner gone, all eyes are now on Auston Matthews

On June 27, John Tavares signed a very team-friendly $4.38M x 4-year contract. This is a significant discount from his previous contract at $11M AAV. A few days later, on June 30, Mitch Marner signed a massive $12M x 8-year contract in a sign-and-trade between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vegas Golden Knights. With these transactions, the “Core Four” era is officially over.

The offseason has barely started, and general manager Brad Treliving is likely not finished curating the final roster. As the Maple Leafs pivot into a Marner-less era, the one player that has added pressure, and whom all eyes are now fixated on, is franchise centre and team captain, Auston Matthews. 

Who plays with Matthews?

With the departure of Marner, and it being so early in the offseason, what the Maple Leafs’ forward lines will be on opening day is anyone’s guess. But at this point, it seems like it will either be Max Domi or Matias Maccelli slotting in on the first-line right wing spot.

No offence to either Domi or Maccelli, but they are no Mitch Marner. Maccelli has a career high of 17 goals and 40 assists for 57 points in 82 games with the Arizona Coyotes in 2023–24. Domi has a career high of 28 goals and 44 assists for 72 points in 82 games with the Montreal Canadiens in 2018–19. 

For reference, Marner’s lowest season statistics-wise is during his rookie season in 2016–17, scoring 19 goals and 42 assists for 61 points in 77 games. Not only does this eclipse Maccelli’s career year, but it is fairly close point-wise to Domi’s. Now, Maccelli is only 24 years old and has played all four seasons in his career on bad Arizona Coyotes/Utah Hockey Club teams. Still, no one is expecting Maccelli to become Mitch Marner (though we can all hope).

Matthews needs to change his game

In light of this fact, Matthews will have to adjust his approach. While Domi and Maccelli are excellent passers, teams always expect the passer to get the puck to Matthews. The flaws of this system have been made brutally obvious in nine playoffs. Take away the passing lane, or take away Matthews’ ability to receive the puck, and the house of cards falls. If this system has not been successful with Marner, it likely won’t be successful with Domi or Maccelli.

Personally, I would like to see Matthews carry the puck into the opposing team’s zone or drive the net more like we saw in his rookie season. Matthews’ passing ability is underrated. Just as we’ve been screaming for years for Marner or Domi to shoot the puck more (because they have a good shot), we should be screaming at Matthews to set up plays. 

I am not suggesting that Matthews completely reinvent his game. After all, he has won the Rocket Richard Trophy three times. But there has to be a change in how the top line operates in Craig Berube’s system. The first line should have more options instead of deferring to Matthews for the shot.

Matthews needs to remain healthy

Other than the poor playoff performances, perhaps Matthews’ only other criticism is that he is injury-prone. Matthews has only played one full 82-game season in his nine-year NHL career, which was his rookie season in 2016–17. His first season as captain was riddled with injuries, having only played 67 games in the 2024–25 campaign.

Despite not looking like himself until after the 4 Nations: Face-Off tournament, he still scored 33 goals and 45 assists for 78 points. Over an 82-game season, this works out to 40 goals and 55 assists, for 95 points. This would’ve been his third-best season in his career point-wise.

However, we know Matthews was playing through something this playoff series because he played through an injury all year, starting from training camp. He apparently won’t require surgery this offseason. But this tune is all too familiar because he missed playoff games during the 2023–24 playoff series due to injury. 

It’s why Matthews, especially with the departure of Marner, needs to remain healthy. The Maple Leafs are not going to replace Marner’s 102 points this year with Domi or Maccelli in the top-six. Barring some sort of blockbuster trade that can see a Marner-calibre player return to the Maple Leafs, which the Maple Leafs do not have the trade assets nor the draft capital, Matthews is going to have to perform to his $13.25M salary.

Matthews’ legacy

Matthews is coming at a critical juncture in his career. When he started with the Maple Leafs, he was one of the young, budding superstar forwards. It wasn’t a question about if the Maple Leafs would hoist the Stanley Cup, but a question of when. Unfortunately, the last nine years have been complete catastrophic failures beyond imagination.

Fortunately, there is still time to change the narrative and build a worthy legacy. Matthews is only 27 years old and is in his prime. He has another three years on his contract, and from all indications, he loves playing in Toronto. At this point, it’s not a stretch to say he will re-sign in Toronto.

Matthews is only 19 goals behind Mats Sundin for the franchise’s all-time leading goal scorer. It’s scary that he is only 27 years old and will likely eclipse the legendary Maple Leafs’ captain this season. It’s also not a stretch, health permitting, that Matthews could catch Alexander Ovechkin for the all-time NHL goal leader.

However, all of these accolades will be overshadowed if Matthews cannot lead the Maple Leafs to a Stanley Cup, or at the very least, an Eastern Conference Final appearance. Even then, would we really be satisfied with the latter? 

After all, part of the reason why the fanbase admires Sundin is that he willed those talent-depleted Maple Leafs teams to the Eastern Conference Finals, twice. Matthews has the benefit of having more skilled teammates than Sundin ever had.

Now, all eyes are on Matthews to lead the Maple Leafs as captain. The team has been through three general managers, three coaches, a carousel of bottom-six players, goaltenders, and top-six wingers. The Core Four era is dead, and Matthews will have to chart a new path forward and redefine his legacy.