How We Should Expect Maple Leafs Captain Auston Matthews to Fare in 2025-26

When the new season commences, Auston Matthews will, of course, be the first-line center, and Matthew Knies is very likely to flank him in his usual top line left wing role.

The absence of Marner opens an opportunity for a few players. Max Domi and Mattias Macelli stand out, as both bring playmaking ability and the skill and speed to push the pace.

Star forward William Nylander is also a candidate to join Matthews on the top line. But the real question is; would that be the right move for the team?

Nylander has played most of his career with the Maple Leafs on the second line with John Tavares, and maybe that's the best thing for the Maple Leafs right now. Spreading the wealth may not be the worst idea for the team as a whole.

This past season, Matthews scored 33 goals and 78 points in 67 games, keeping him well above a point-per-game pace. But injuries kept him from looking like his 69-goal self from 2023-24.

Having Knies alongside him will also be key. Toronto hasn't had a winger with his size and bulldog presence on the top line since Zach Hyman, and Knies brings even more physicality and forechecking pressure.

How does Auston Matthews fare in 2025-26? Well, it's a bit of a loaded question, but one that we should preface with the fact that he's the best pure goal scorer in the NHL.

If chemistry clicks and Matthews plays close to a full season, another 100-point campaign is well within reach - and a third 60-goal season isn't out of the question either.

On the low end, if Matthews does not end up with a quality puck distributor on his line, we could easily see him produce somewhere in the 45-goal, 90-point range -- which is still above a point per game, but nowhere near the level he can produce if he gets back to shooting the puck with the same level of confidence as he did in 2023-24.