Auston Matthews won the Hart Trophy for the 2021-2022 season, becoming just the third player in Maple Leafs franchise history to win the award. Let’s take a closer look at his season and projections for 2022-2023.
2021-2022 Season
Contract Details and Projected Value
The 21/22 season was the third year of a 5 year deal for Matthews. Already a proven elite scorer in the NHL at the end of his entry-level contract, the price for the Leafs to retain him was steep. At age 24, he was just entering his prime.
- Signed: February 5, 2019
- Signed by: Toronto Maple Leafs
- Length: 5 years
- Cap Hit: $11.64M
- Clause: NMC in year 5
2021-2022 Performance
A decade after the NHL last saw a 60 goal scorer, Matthews accomplished the feat in the 2021-2022 season. He put up 38 of those goals at 5v5, also giving him the highest 5v5 G/60 in the NHL this season. He shot 15.57% at 5v5, which is high for an average NHL forward, but sits roughly average for Matthews through his 6 NHL seasons. He did it while contributing defensively as well, leading to one of the highest overall impacts in the NHL this season.
The Maple Leafs fell to the two-time defending champion Lightning in the first round of the playoffs, where Matthews put up 4 goals and 5 assists in 7 games.
2022-2023 Projections
Matthews is projected to be one of the NHL’s top goal scorers once again in 2022-2023. With an primary assist rate projected to be in the top quartile of NHL forwards and a strong defensive impact to complement his scoring prowess, he’ll be one of the leagues most dominant players once again next season.
Want to peruse the full set of player projections or team profiles for next season? Sign up for an annual membership to get access to all the 22/23 team and player projection cards. Plots will be updated through the offseason as the 22/23 rosters take shape and will be updated to track progress through the season so you can follow along with the changing landscape.
Input data for models from Natural Stat Trick. Contract data from CapFriendly.
