You couldn’t think of a better way for the Toronto Maple Leafs to wrap up their holiday schedule than how it played out on Tuesday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Two points secured in regulation, William Nylander broke his slump with a four-point outburst (two goals, two assists), a crucial game-winner from an unlikely source in Max Domi, and the return of Chris Tanev to cap it off. It was about as perfect a game as Leafs Nation could ask for – with one notable exception: Auston Matthews still couldn’t find the scoresheet.
Unfortunately, that’s the story of his 2025-2026 season, especially lately, which is now over pointless in four consecutive games for the first time since the 2018-2019 campaign. No one wants to fixate on the one negative after such a positive win heading into Christmas, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore what both the eye test and the numbers say about the Leafs captain.
Analyst Dave Feschuk discussed the issue on TSN’s OverDrive and didn’t mince words, calling out Matthews for being carried by others when he’s supposed to be the one doing the heavy lifting as the team’s superstar.
Feschuk said:
“You have to have faith that your guy, your number one, has a different outfit. That your number one can carry the team when necessary… And for the Maple Leafs, I think this is the number one issue of the season. The number one doesn’t carry them with anything; in fact, he’s carried by teammates who are having better years than him. He’s carried by the fact that they’ve had some pretty good goaltending when it’s been good. He’s carried by the fact that there are other issues with this team that are being highlighted, including the surge of injuries, including the fact that many people blame the coach and the general manager.”
The 28-year-old is currently producing at the lowest level per game of his NHL career, with just 23 points (14 goals, nine assists) in 31 games played.
Finding Auston Matthews Wingers has been a struggle
While there are a multitude of factors that have affected Matthews’ play and production – potential injuries, Craig Berube’s system and the loss of Mitch Marner – the revolving door of wingers certainly hasn’t helped either.
Matthew Knies, William Nylander, Max Domi, Bobby McMann, Nick Robertson, Easton Cowan, Matias Maccelli and even Calle Jarnkrok have all spent time flanking the captain on the top line. Knies is the only one stuck for a meaningful period of time, and even that link was recently severed as the duo largely dried up.
Nylander is the closest Matthews has to replacing Marner, but putting the two together will leave John Tavares stranded on the second line – something we’ve seen he can no longer carry on his own.
That reality leaves the Maple Leafs without a clear internal solution to help Matthews, which could force them to explore the trade market for a skilled, playmaking top-six winger. Even though a two-time 60-goal scorer should be able to get results on his own, it’s clear that the current setup doesn’t give him – or the team – any advantage.
Next: Insider Presents Auston Matthews Trade to Western Conference Candidate
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