Elliotte Friedman reveals why Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has struggled to score this season

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Tom Banks
October 16, 2024 (12:27)

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Auston Matthews had 69 goals a season ago, but through games he's been held scoreless, and now we potentially know the reason behind his slump.

The 2024/25 season has started well for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as they have posted a solid 2-1-0 record through three games despite the illness that is reportedly going through the locker room. That's not the only thing that has potentially held them back, as captain Auston Matthews has tallied no points through those three games, and while it's seemingly not a cause for concern yet, top NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman has revealed the potential reason behind the slump.

"Matthews has no points after 3 games. It's rare for him, but it's not unheard of, but I thought the thing that was really interesting was I got a couple of texts from people who were like 'he's doing different stuff out there... what one guy said to me was that they put the C on him, and they say it's wrong to say that he didn't care about defense before, because he did, but it's almost like they said it raised him to like a higher level of consciousness about what he's suppose to be, right? And what the captain is supposed to be.

He might dispute that. I'm not sure he would like that, because he takes great pride in how well-rounded he wanted to be in the first place, but a couple of guys did say to me -- he doesn't give away a lot, but he almost looks completely unbothered by the fact that he's not producing while they're winning.

He's trying to be even more detailed than he was... I just thought that was an interesting take on him so far."

Like many expected, taking on the captaincy has seemingly placed a bigger focus on the defensive end of the ice for Matthews, and while he's not scoring, he's clearly become a much more effective leader, putting in more intensity all over the ice that has helped them to team success. While some like Don Cherry didn't like the move to name Matthews captain, it's clearly paying off for the team, and if he can find his scoring touch, it may be the thing that this team needed to finally succeed down the stretch.

It's just been three games however, so it's very tough to judge whether or not fans should be worried about Matthews or whether the move to name him captain was the right one, but for now the team looks good even with that illness that could potentially keep William Nylander out of the lineup.