Leafs' Auston Matthews reveals insane target for goals scored this year

Since entering the NHL eight years ago, Leafs superstar Auston Matthews has been one of the most prolific goal scorers in the league, actually out scoring even Ovechkin through his 533 career games. This season Matthews is on a historic tear with multiple sets of back to back hat tricks, and he's currently on pace for 75 goals. However, fans have now spotted Matthews possibly subtly revealing his target for goals scored this year, as he wrote ‘80' on his gloves for the last game.

Matthews currently has 48 goals through 52 games this season. To score 80 this season, Matthews has 29 games to score 32 goals. It seems insane, but it's possible if he can continue at his current pace and adds just a few more impressive performances.

Today against the St. Louis Blues, Matthews will have an opportunity to become the first player in NHL history to score three straight hat tricks, and it's the second time this season he's even had this opportunity. If Matthews can even score 70, he'll be the first player to do so since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny both scored 76 in 1993.


It almost appears that McDavid and Matthews have developed a cross-league rivalry amongst individual statistics in recent years. After Matthews scored 60 goals in 2021-22, McDavid answered back with 64 goals of his own in 2023. Now this year, Matthews has turned back on the jets going for 80, while McDavid however has kind of disavowed the pursuit of gaudy stats this year in favour of a more complete team game. Still, we all know McDavid could score 80 as well if he truly set his mind to it.