Auston Matthews has had an inexplicable drop off from his elite offense and defense that needs to be studied with the true extent of his struggles now known.

One of the most confusing storylines over the last two seasons has been the inexplicable drop off for Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, who isn’t even 2 full seasons removed from having won his 3rd Rocket Richard trophy as the league’s top goal scorer.

Matthews has been on record as having dealt with a series of upper-body injuries over the last few seasons, primarily with his wrist, which certainly has played a major part in his downward spiral.

The former first overall pick scored a whopping 210 goals in 280 games across a stretch of 4 seasons. He averaged an insane 0.75 goals per game and he hadn’t even entered his prime yet as he did all of that in his age 23 to 26 seasons.

Since then, Matthews has scored 46 goals in 93 games, which would be great numbers for most players, but for someone of his stature, it’s a concerning trend. What also doesn’t help is that the eye-test corroborates with this trend as he looks like a shell of his MVP-self.

Looking at his player card from the 2023-24 season, he posted an otherworldly 99 overall, which included a 99 on offense and 94 on defense. Things fell off immediately the following season, where he dropped to a 77 overall with his defense taking the biggest hit of 71 points, but his offense remained elite.

However, where things become worrisome is looking at his card for the current 2025-26 season, where his offense is just above average at 67 with an overall score of only 54.

Matthews dealt with a mysterious upper-body injury last year that headlined the first half of the season. He has also dealt with wrist issues in the previous seasons and many have wondered why they have never looked at correcting the issues through surgery, because it looks like it’s still affecting him.

The 4-Nations tournament seemingly played a factor as Matthews wanted to represent his country as the captain. Throw in the Olympic Games this year, and it’s becoming increasingly obvious that his priorities might not align with what the fanbase wants or with what the team needs.

He has recently returned from another injury and has looked a lot better, but the hockey world wants to see the goal-scorer come back to form. Unfortunately, if his downward trend continues, a deeper question needs to be answered as to whether or not he’ll be able to meet the lofty expectations attached to his expensive contract.

Previously on Toronto Hockey Daily