Auston Matthews scored his 421st career goal on Saturday to pass Hall of Famer Mats Sundin for the most goals in Toronto Maple Leafs franchise history.
“I thought it was going to take a few more years, but he’s a great goal scorer,” Sundin said laughing. “Kidding aside, records are made to be broken and what a treat for the Toronto Maple Leaf fan base to have a superstar like Auston.”
Sundin was in attendance at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday as the team recognized Matthews’ historic accomplishment in a ceremony before the the game against the Florida Panthers, and Sundin praised Matthews when speaking to the media afterwards.
“It was more exciting, trying to get it over with, because he’s got more important things to think about, like winning hockey games for the Leafs,” Sundin said of the ceremony. “But it was important. I felt that I wanted to be here for that.”
Matthews was selected with the top pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Maple Leafs, and put his goal-scoring prowess on display in his debut when he tallied four goals against the Ottawa Senators in the season opener later that year.
Over his 10 years with the Maple Leafs since, Matthews has earned a Hart Trophy (2021-22), set the franchise mark for goals in a single season (69, 2023-24), was named captain of the team before the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign.
“[Matthews is] one of the league’s premier players and an even better person,” Sundin said. “The way he handles one of the hardest hockey markets to be in, Toronto, and representing the Maple Leafs, he does it with grace, and I’m very glad for him.”
Matthews added another goal, his sixth in his past three games, in the first period of their game against the Panthers. In 36 games this year, Matthews has 21 goals and 34 points.
