Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews
The struggling Toronto Maple Leafs made a slew of additions this offseason, but none more (hopefully) franchise alerting than that of 18-year-old number one pick, Auston Matthews. Toronto fans finally have a player in which to rejoice, as a fan base should in a number one overall selection. But what could we possibly expect from the Scottsdale, Arizona native this year? Constantly boasted as one of the most complete offensive forwards for his age seen in some time, his quickness with both hands, feet and mind should see Matthews rack up his fair share of points this year on a fairly thin Maple Leafs squad. He has been described as a “generational talent” by many including esteemed hockey talent evaluator Joe Curtis, but has also been known to “make his own luck”, as Curtis puts it, “gaining leverage” against his opponents with both body and stick. At 6'2 and 216 pounds, he has good size for a young centre, but may still find it slightly harder to physically impose himself on the contest in the NHL than he did last year with Lions in Switzerland. As good as Matthews is in his rookie year, we may very well be witnessing the birth of the next great NHL centre for this famous franchise.
