Call me crazy but I think Auston Matthews is a changed man.

Beyond the goals and the obvious scoring prowess, he now seems — dare I say it — to finally be carrying himself as the leader of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s just different. In the best of ways.

How did this happen?

Actually it’s more about when did this happen and I know exactly when.

Jan. 3, 2026.

This was the day Auston Matthews became the franchise’s all-time leading goal scorer, surpassing legendary Maple Leafs Mats Sundin to take over top spot.

Points-wise Matthews currently sits fifth all-time and trails No. 4 Borje Salming by only four points. He will need 94 points to pass Dave Keon at third; 152 to pass Darryl Sittler at second; and 223 to eclipse Mats Sundin for the franchise leadership in total points.

Maple Leaf icon

While these are just numbers, the significance of them cannot be understated. They very publicly cement Auston Matthews’ status as a Maple Leaf icon. Numbers are indisputable and, with this, Matthews has put yet another stamp on his Maple Leaf legacy, much like his franchise-record 69 goals did for him in the 2023-24 season.

It’s not just about the numbers though. It’s what comes with them. It’s like keys to a special club.

It means a lot,” Matthews said. “It’s a very historical franchise, and I take a lot of pride in putting on the jersey every day. So, to be in the same sentence as some of the greats that have come before us means a lot. It’s extremely special. And I’m very humbled, and I couldn’t do it without a great group of guys around me.”

On its own this reaction sounds perfunctory — and in the past it probably was — but eventually you come to appreciate the gravity of what you’ve done. At some point the words mean more.

Things feel differently this time, like it all finally makes sense to him. He gets why people make such a big deal about this franchise and his place in it.

This has been a long, organic process. Management can try to expedite it by naming Matthews captain before he’s truly ready (which I feel they did) but an individual will only exemplify true leadership qualities (a) if it’s actually in his makeup and (b) if he truly recognizes the magnitude of the role he plays and what that implies.

Relentless scrutiny

For most of Matthews’s career the scrutiny has been relentless, bordering on overwhelming. Having a pre-ordained place in Leafs’ history can be an impossible weight for anyone to carry, let alone a 20 year old from Scottsdale, Arizona with no real idea of what he’s getting into.

Truth is, he had no idea. Auston was just another kid with immense talent, trying to navigate the impossible expectations put on by an unforgiving hockey market that’s haunted by sixty year old ghosts.

While it was never said, early on it was just too daunting for him. You could see it in how he played the game. Tense. Almost guarded.

Failure, as he soon learned, was unacceptable. Problem is, the failures kept happening. The bigger the stage, the higher the fall. As the best player on the team you’re expected to produce and, as captain of it, you’re expected to take the biggest share of the blame when things go badly.

And they went badly. And the response from Matthews and the three other members of the Core 4 was tepid. Hollow emotions filled with cliches and platitudes.

Where is the fire?

Isn’t he captain of the team?

Miscast

Truth is, Auston Matthews has been miscast. Mostly, that’s on us. Team management at least. We always assume that a team’s best player naturally is its leader, and when he’s not, you feel cheated, that he isn’t as advertised.

As if natural talent always leads to leadership. But it doesn’t.

Sure, leadership skills can be taught but acquiring those skills doesn’t make you into a true leader. It just makes you a better one.

That’s the quandary Matthews has always faced. He was anointed king before he was one, and when you act like a king before becoming one, you get resentment. This is the irony of Leafland where saviours are measured with an egg timer.

Becoming a leader — or at least becoming the best leader you can be — takes time, and to force expectations on a twentysomething is unfair. Hockey player or not.

He will only appreciate it when he learns what the lofty position actually means and he will only appreciate it when his place in his team’s history is cemented. In black and white.

This is why becoming Toronto’s all-time goal-scoring leader is so pivotal in the development of Auston Matthews. Of any player really.

This record, quite literally marks his place in Leaf history. It’s a peek into the player and the person he hasn’t become yet.

When the legend who previously held this record calls to congratulate you for supplanting him, and his own legacy, you begin to see a bigger picture. That any record is only important in a vacuum. That it’s little more than your mile marker in a communal history. It’s nothing more than a number on a list.

Changed gears

It’s not that Auston Matthews’ burden has gotten any lighter. It just changed gears. The statistics can cement a legacy but, for sure, but that alone doesn’t make you a legend.

Matthews sees Sundin’s place in history but he also can see the hill that Sundin, and many others before him, could never summit. This appreciation is the change I see in him. He is understanding the gravity of who he is and why that matters to so many people. Including him.

It’s like he’s ripened to the point where his talent, experience and maturity have all arrived at a pivotal crossroads together. A place where personal records don’t mean what they used to mean to him.

He might hold every scoring record by the time he retires but the ultimate goal is now more in focus. Records are a testament to time spent and eventually the time you can spend setting records runs out.

Is Auston Matthews really seeing this now? I think so.

But actions finally need to speak louder than words. It’s one thing to say it but another to see it, and furthermore believe it, and I dare say we’re starting to see that.

The 20 year old within him is now gone and I suppose this is the true dawn of Auston Matthews 2.0. Whatever he’s become or, more so, what he’s about to become, remains to be seen.