Last season, Auston Matthews produced 40 goals and 85 points in 74 games during which many had called a "down year" by his standards. The Scottsdale, AZ native was coming off of back-to-back seasons in which he won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, awarded the the player who scores the most goals during the regular season, but in the end, he came up very short on his bid for a 3rd consecutive Rocket Richard Trophy, as Connor McDavid took home the award, posting a 64-goal, 153-point season.
This season, however, Matthews has not only returned to his typical goal-scoring wizardry, he's taken it to a whole new level, having scored 40 goals in just 46 games, putting him on pace to be the first player to surpass the 70-goal plateau in a single season since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny accomplished the feat in the same year, back in 1992-93. Matthews would need 30 goals in the next 35 games to be able to hit his mark.
Matthews has largely played down the 70-goal pursuit this year, but there's another elite NHL superstar who isn't selling Matthews short or downplaying his incredible pace in the slightest - last year's Rocket Richard winner, McDavid himself.
During yesterday's All-Star Skills Competition, McDavid was asked about Matthews' pursuit of 70 goals and he had nothing but compliments and appreciation for what Matthews is doing right now. As far as whether or not he thinks Matthews will reach the mark, McDavid had this to say:
Matthews and McDavid have a tremendous amount of respect for one another. Matthews has trained with McDavid in the past, inviting him to Arizona a couple of summers ago to take part in some summer sessions with several other notable NHLers, including Clayton Keller.
Greatness recognizes greatness, as they say, and McDavid seems to have all of the respect in the world for Matthews and what he's able to do. Obviously, that appreciation is reciprocated. Will Matthews reach the 70-goal plateau this season? Let us know in the poll below.
