Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews primed to make history with 50 goals in 2020-21

Expect Auston Matthews to become a member of the 50 goal club in 2020-21.

While the 2020-21 NHL season will be both short and unlike any we’ve ever seen due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, you can bet that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews will keep on riding an upwards trajectory.

About a month ago I penned a piece on how Matthews is only just getting started, with the uber-talented star flexing his offensive muscles during the 2019-20 season while really honing his defensive game and all-round play.

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While the 23-year-old will be expected to continue to make huge strides in 2020-21 as it pertains to his 200-foot game and all-round importance to the team, it could also be the season where the young stud makes history.

Carving out a career-year in 2019-20 with 80 points (47 G, 33 A) in 70 games, Matthews was robbed off the chance to etch his name in the annals of Maple Leafs and NHL history due to the COVID-19 Pandemic cutting short the regular season.

With a career-high 47 goals Matthews was just three short of reaching the 50-goal plateau for the first time in his young but flourishing career, while it would have put him within striking distance of beating Rick Vaive‘s franchise record of 54 goals in a single season for the Maple Leafs.

However, expect that to change in 2020-21.

Now, you may be screaming out right now that there will be less games for Matthews to chase that elusive franchise record and also become a member of the 50 goal club, but hear us out for just a minute.

Matthews is getting better and better with each passing season and he’s nowhere near his peak or prime years yet, which suggests that an improvement on the 47 goals and 80 points he put up last year is a mere formality.

He shoots the puck like no other in the National Hockey League and, with Toronto set to be put into an All-Canadian Division, Matthews will have a golden opportunity to pad his stats against the likes of the Ottawa Senators eight or nine times in 2020-21.

It is also important to remember that the center added that all-so important ingredient called consistency to his game in 2019-20, and that factor should help him to score 50 or more goals in a season that will likely feature anyway between 48 and 60 games.

There is also the added caveat that, after so many years of falling way short in the Stanley Cup Playoffs despite boasting a talent-laden core, this could be a win-or-bust year for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As a result, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Matthews leaned on even more when it comes to being used in all situations, and his ATOI will probably take another jump from the career-high of 20:58 he averaged in 2019-20, thus giving him more opportunities to light the lamp and become the first American-born player to break into the 50-goal club since John LeClair did it in the 1997-98 season.

Basically, while the odds will be against him in terms of not having as many games to work with, the stage is set for Auston Matthews to take that next giant step in his career and really explode offensively in the NHL.

He showed exactly what he’s capable of last year and, another year older and another year wiser, Matthews should be able to crack 50 goals and even break Rick Vaive‘s long-standing franchise record of 54 goals in a single season.

It won’t be easy but Auston Matthews is a special player and he’s on the cusp of truly establishing himself as one of the best in the league, so putting up 50 goals in 50 or so games would be a fitting way to rubber-stamp his status as a formidable force to be reckoned with in the NHL and one of the best pure scorers of his golden generation.