At the moment, there are only two active NHL players with three or more 50-plus-goal seasons: Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin and…wait, you were expecting us to say Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, weren’t you?
That’s not the case. Edmonton Oilers star center Leon Draisaitl now has four 50-goal campaigns after scoring twice against the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
Draisaitl’s scoring prowess raises an intriguing question: is he a better goal-scorer than Matthews?
It’s not as straightforward as it may seem, but Matthews still has the edge.
Matthews has three Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard Trophies as the NHL’s best goal-scorer, while Draisaitl is trending toward only winning his first this season.
Matthews also has 397 goals in 621 career games – Draisaitl has 377 in 679 games since Matthews joined the league in 2016-17.
It’s true Matthews has had more injuries to deal with over the years, but like Draisatl, he has six seasons of 40 goals or more. And when Matthews is at his best, he’s on a level of his own. His top two seasons of 69 goals in 2023-24 and 60 in 2021-22 are much better than Draisaitl’s bests of 55 in ’21-22 and 52 in ’22-23.
The 27-year-old Matthews has 2,509 career shots for a shooting percentage of 15.8 percent. This season – a down year with injury issues – Matthews has 29 goals on 236 shots, for a shooting percentage of 12.3 percent.
Draisaitl, meanwhile, has 398 career goals on 2,144 shots for a shooting percentage of 18.6 percent. This season, Draisaitl’s 51 goals came on 237 shots for a stunning shooting percentage of 21.5 percent. So Draisaitl does deserve credit for scoring on more of his shots than Matthews.
Matthews is more of a high-volume shot-taker, but that shouldn’t go against his case in the better goal-scorer debate. Draisaitl is more of a playmaker than Matthews, with 53 assists this season. He can defer to fellow superstar Connor McDavid or left winger Zach Hyman, while Matthews is the player Mitch Marner and others set up.
Auston Matthews And The Maple Leafs Must Play Playoff-Style Hockey – Nagging Injury Or NotWith a pair of goals in a 6-2 win against the Calgary Flames on Monday night, Auston Matthews did two things: he snapped the Toronto Maple Leafs out of a two-week funk. And he reminded everyone why he is the team’s captain.
For those reasons, we believe Matthews is a better pure goal-scorer than Draisaitl. ...
