Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews is widely considered the best goal-scorer alive but it’s compelling to see where he ranks historically. We’re nearly through the first quarter of the 21st century, which is a roundabout way to reflect on the greatest athletic accomplishments we’ve witnessed.
ESPN ranked the Top 100 athletes of the 21st century last week, where Matthews didn’t make the cut — Connor McDavid was the only men’s hockey player to make the list. Matthews is in different territory when it comes to ESPN’s Top 25 NHL players of the 21st century, coming in at No. 15.
Here’s what ESPN’s Kristen Shilton wrote about Matthews for this project:
Matthews has collected accolades at an awe-inspiring rate in his young career, putting him on track to be the greatest — and most decorated — Maple Leaf of all time. He’s one of just two American-born players to ever win the Hart Trophy, was the first Leaf ever to earn a Ted Lindsay, has three scoring titles and a Calder Trophy. There are few feats Matthews hasn’t been able to accomplish thus far.
We agree with Shilton — Matthews is certainly on pace to become the greatest player in Maple Leafs history! At first glance, Matthews’ ranking would appear to be a bit low, at least for our liking, but when you consider that he’s listed above Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Jarome Iginla and Pavel Datysuk among others, it’s incredible company to be in.
It’s always a fascinating and somewhat incomplete exercise to rank a player currently in the middle of their prime and Matthews is looking to break the elusive 70-goal plateau this season, leading the NHL with 69 goals in 2023-24 — the best total since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96.
Matthews changed the trajectory of the Maple Leafs’ franchise upon being selected first overall in 2016. All he needs is sustained playoff success to ascend through the list next time and one Stanley Cup victory would not only make him a permanent fixture on these type of historical retrospectives, but a demigod in Toronto forever.
