Even after a down season, Auston Matthews continues to lead Connor McDavid in an important stat

Even though Matthews was not as productive as the year prior, due to injuries, he was still productive enough to continue to lead the league in goals scored since he entered the NHL in the 2016-2017 season. From his rookie season to this past season no player has scored more than the 299 goals he has. Possibly the greatest goal scorer of all-time, Alexander Ovechkin has scored just 2 less goals over the same time while Connor McDavid has scored 287. Both Ovechkin (508) and McDavid (524) have played a significant amount of more games than Matthews (481). The most impressive thing about what Matthews has done putting the puck in the net is that the majority of his goals have come at even strength where he again leads the league with 223, eleven more than McDavid. In contrast, Matthews has just 76 powerplay goals, which is 40 behind powerplay merchant Leon Draisatl's 119 over the same span.

Matthews will have to hope that his wrist will withstand a full season if he hopes to recapture his 2021-2022 form and Rocket Richard Trophy. Until the season begins though, we will all wait for Matthews to put pen to paper and become the highest paid player in the game annually all thanks to his scoring prowess.

*stats courtesy of NHL.com*