A common hockey cliché is that you can't win the Stanley Cup by October or November, but you can lose it. A slow start can cause low morale that bleeds into...
Since the 2020-21 season, NHL teams
have operated under a salary cap that's risen at a glacial pace.
Flattened by a reduction in hockey-related revenue brought...
The weeks between the end of the
Stanley Cup playoffs and Aug. 1 tend to see a considerable amount of
activity in the trade and free-agent markets. General...
Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews Wins Hart Trophy as 2021-22 NHL MVP
Jun 22, 2022
TORONTO, ON - MAY 2: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks on against the Seattle Kraken during the first period in Game One of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Scotiabank Arena on May 2, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews has won the 2021-22 Hart Trophy as the player viewed to be the most valuable to his team, it was announced Tuesday. He beat out Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid and New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin for the honor.
This marks Matthews' first Hart Trophy victory, and he is the first Maple Leaf to win the award since Ted Kennedy in 1954-55. He was also nominated for the award during the 2020-21 campaign but came in second behind McDavid.
Matthews had a dominant season for the Maple Leafs, scoring a career-high 60 goals and 46 assists for 106 points in 73 games. It was his third consecutive season with at least 40 goals, and he has never scored less than 34 goals in each of his six seasons.
The 24-year-old's efforts helped Toronto finish second in the Atlantic Division with a 54-21-7 record. The team's 54 wins and 115 points were the most in franchise history.
The Maple Leafs selected Matthews first overall in the 2016 NHL draft, and he has been one of the best forwards in the league since. He has tallied 259 goals and 198 assists for 457 points in 407 games.
In addition to winning the Hart Trophy, he won the 2021-22 Rocket Richard Trophy as the league's top goal scorer and the Ted Lindsay Award. He also won the Rocket Richard during the 2020-21 season and won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie during the 2016-17 season.
Matthews signed a five-year, $58.2 million deal with the Maple Leafs in 2019 and will be a free agent after the 2023-24 season. Based on the way he's been playing, he'll be in for a massive extension worth more than the $11.6 million annually he makes now.
Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews Wins 2021-22 Ted Lindsay Award
Jun 21, 2022
TORONTO, ON - MAY 10: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks on against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period in Game Five of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Scotiabank Arena on May 10, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews has won the 2021-22 Ted Lindsay Award as the NHL's most outstanding player, beating out Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid and Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi for the honor.
Matthews is the first Maple Leaf and only the second United States-born player to win the award after Patrick Kane.
The 24-year-old also won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer for the second straight season and won the Hart Trophy as the player viewed to be the most valuable to his team.
Matthews tallied a career-high 60 goals and 46 assists for 106 points in 73 games. He also recorded 19.2 percent of Toronto's goals, which helped the team finish second in the Atlantic Division with a 54-21-7 record and reach the playoffs for the sixth straight season.
The San Ramon, California native finished first in the NHL averaging 0.82 goals per game. It was the highest per-game rate for any player since Mario Lemieux averaged 0.99 goals per game in 1995-96. In addition, he finished first in the league with 44 even-strength goals.
The Maple Leafs selected Matthews first overall in the 2016 NHL draft, and he has been a staple in their lineup ever since. He won the Calder Trophy as the league's best rookie in 2016-17 after finishing with 40 goals and 29 assists for 69 points in 82 games and has also earned one All-Star selection.
In 407 career games, Matthews has had 259 goals and 198 assists for 457 points. He is under contract with Toronto through the 2023-24 season at $11.6 million per year.
Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner Says He's 'Safe and Doing Well' After Carjacking
May 18, 2022
TORONTO, ON - MAY 4: Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs waits for a faceoff against the Tampa Bay Lightning during Game Two of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 4, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Lightning defeated the Maple Leafs 5-3. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner, who was the victim of an armed carjacking Monday, made his first public comments about it in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
Marner thanked the Maple Leafs organization, Toronto Police, friends, fans and his teammates for their support after the carjacking and also said in the statement that he is "safe and doing well."
Toronto Police tweeted about a carjacking at a movie theatre on Monday at 7:57 p.m. ET, saying that a man was robbed of his Black Range Rover by three armed suspects, two of which had handguns.
Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun later reported that Marner and one of his friends were the victims of the carjacking. A source told Warmington that "the guys approached wearing masks and said they wanted the vehicle. Mitch said, 'go ahead and take it.'"
The source added that the suspects weren't aware that Marner was the victim and only wanted the vehicle to potentially sell for profit. Marner was not physically harmed in the altercation.
Officers are working "feverishly" to solve the carjacking, Toronto Police Insp. Rich Harris told Scott Laurie of the Toronto Sun:
The victims were a man and a woman in their 20s who were robbed at gunpoint for their vehicle. That was a Land Rover that was stolen. Thankfully, the victims were unharmed. And we're actively working to establish any links with dedicated investigators — trust me when I tell you — dedicated investigators are working on this feverishly and continue to review any and all evidence.
Harris also told Laurie that there has been a surge in Toronto-area carjackings this year, with his team responding to 60 such incidents so far in 2022 as opposed to 59 total in 2021.
Marner, 25, has spent his entire six-year career with the Maple Leafs after being selected fourth overall in the 2015 NHL draft. He has emerged as one of the most productive players on the roster, tallying 138 goals and 317 assists for 455 points in 427 games.
During the 2021-22 season, he notched 35 goals and 62 assists for 97 points in 72 games en route to helping the Maple Leafs finish with the second-best record in the Atlantic Division at 54-21-7.
Marner is under contract with the Maple Leafs through the 2024-25 season.
