Matthews is the NHL's Sun Belt growth come to spectacular life. Who would have thought a decade or so ago that a player raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, would be the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft -- and a potential franchise player for the Toronto Maple Leafs after scoring 158 goals before his 23rd birthday?
Matthews was the first United States-born player to be chosen No. 1 since the Chicago Blackhawks took Patrick Kane with the first pick in the 2007 NHL Draft. While growing up, he idolized players such Shane Doan and Daniel Briere, members of the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes, a franchise that relocated in 1996 from Winnipeg. Matthews was an all-around athlete who chose to focus on hockey as an adolescent, and he excelled at every level of the game on his unique path to the NHL.
Matthews is the NHL's Sun Belt growth come to spectacular life. Who would have thought a decade or so ago that a player raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, would be the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft -- and a potential franchise player for the Toronto Maple Leafs after scoring 158 goals before his 23rd birthday?
Matthews was the first United States-born player to be chosen No. 1 since the Chicago Blackhawks took Patrick Kane with the first pick in the 2007 NHL Draft. While growing up, he idolized players such Shane Doan and Daniel Briere, members of the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes, a franchise that relocated in 1996 from Winnipeg. Matthews was an all-around athlete who chose to focus on hockey as an adolescent, and he excelled at every level of the game on his unique path to the NHL.
With USA Hockey's National Team Development Program in 2014-15, Matthews set United States Under-18 team records for a single season with 55 goals and 117 points (surpassing Kane's 52 goals and 102 points in 2005-06). The performance was a springboard not to major junior or college hockey, but to a one-and-done NHL prep season in Switzerland.
Playing in National League A, the top Swiss pro league, the 18-year-old center had 24 goals (fourth in the league) and 46 points (10th) in 36 games with Zurich in 2015-16. He played for the United States at the 2016 IIHF Junior World Championship, where he tied for the tournament lead with seven goals and helped the U.S. win a bronze medal, and at the IIHF 2016 World Championship, where he led the U.S. with six goals and tied for the lead in points with nine.
Marc Crawford, Matthews' coach with Zurich and a 15-year veteran behind NHL benches, likened him to Joe Sakic, the Hockey Hall of Fame center for the Colorado Avalanche. Crawford said Matthews, who possesses a deadly wrist shot, might be the best puck-handling center he has seen.
Matthews had a record-setting NHL debut on Oct. 13, 2016, when he scored four goals, becoming the first player in the League's modern era to do so. He led all rookies in goals (40), points (69) and shots on goal (279) in 2016-17 to win the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL's rookie of the year. He also helped the Maple Leafs advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time since 2004.
Injuries limited Matthews to 62 games in 2017-18, but he finished with 63 points (34 goals, 29 assists) and helped the Maple Leafs return to the playoffs. He followed that with NHL career highs of 37 goals and 73 points in 2018-19, then joined some elite company by hitting the 30-goal mark for the fourth time in as many NHL seasons in 2019-20 -- this time doing it in just 45 games. He finished the season with 47 goals in 70 games, ending up one short of League leaders David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- NHL All-Rookie Team (2017)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (2017, 2018, 2019)
