ThatвЂ™s how many times the puck left the stick of the Richard winner in all situations in each playoff game. That even with Carey Price running hot, John Tavares out, and Sheldon Keefe playing in sandbox mode, a little puck luck, and it would have been on to round two. He maintained his on-ice quality and pace of shots for (IвЂ™m avoiding saying Expected Goals per 60, but thatвЂ™s what I mean), and he actually increased his percentages when weighted for quality over what they were in the regular season.ДЄ case can be made that it all was the bounces not going their way that ended the playoffs for the Leafs. The usual expectation is that players, even very good ones, lose some of their offensive punch in the allegedly tougher environment of the playoffs.

The Percentages and the BouncesДЄuston Matthews, with Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman, maintained their regular season individual quality of shot location in the playoffs last May. And when it became obvious that it had to be the very lowkey John Tavares, Auston Matthews failed a test that almost every other superstar in the NHL has either passed on merit, or been made to look like he has. The Maple Leafs brass, all caught up in the drama they created by not firing Mike Babcock in the summer, seemed to really like Morgan Rielly for the job as well.

But the weird thing about it all is that, if heвЂ™d had the character when sober to never do what he did when drunk, he still might not have been captain. The discussion in 2018 around the naming of a Leafs captain was so Toronto-typical, that I just tried very hard to ignore it, but given his criminal behaviour of an embarrassing and offensive kind that summer, he was never getting the C. IвЂ™ve tried to think of a single NHL player - drafted first overall, acclaimed before he was even drafted, a scoring star, a 1C on any team in the NHL but one or two, a big-minute, go-to guy - who is not the captain. I come not to praise Matthews, or bury him, but to ask for more than an individual achievement. Imagine how that would feel standing there, listening to the applause for the hollowest of personal achievements, knowing that a collective embarrassing failure was his real reward for the 2021 season. He didnвЂ™t have to go to Vegas, sit in the crowd, listen to his name mentioned as a Hart contender and go up on stage to be handed the trophy named after one of the greatest players to ever play for the MontrГ©al Canadiens just a few days after that team had gone all the way to the final. The lack of an NHL Awards show this summer did Matthews a big favour. So you won the Richard? So what? Anything less than even more glory is going to get someone fired.

He will begin his sixth season with new expectations, new levels he will be expected to achieve, and more he has to find to bring to the team. Courtesy of his birthdate, heвЂ™ll be back next year, number one unanimously, once again.ДЄnd yet, Matthews has never had a more uncertain future. Everyone knows that Matthews will lead our Top 25 ranking until he ages out. Auston Matthews is the best player on the Leafs, and that never needs to be explained to anyone.

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