Brendan Shanahan Indicates What The Next Big Step Is For Auston Matthews.

The Toronto Maple Leafs launch their 2020-21 season tonight as they'll host the Montreal Canadiens for the season opener. General manager Kyle Dubas brought in some solid veterans to help the core group take the next step during the regular season and most importantly during the playoffs. Among those steps will be hoping Auston Matthews can take the next step in regards to being a two way player, we all know he can score goals and now Brendan Shanahan wants to see more. The team is hoping that Matthews turns into a complete hockey player this season. «He's an elite-group scorer in the National Hockey League, but I think what impresses so many people about his game is how well-rounded it is. He's taken a real interest in becoming as they say a 200-foot player, a complete NHL hockey player. That is the kind of player that you can put on in any situation. I like the fact that Sheldon is introducing penalty killing to his game here, I think it's a great message for the team that your best players are not only expected to score goals, but they're also expected to defend as well. You look at a guy like Mitch Marner, I would put Mitch in that same company as a guy that is an elite offensive player but also really developing into an elite defensive player. So that's an important aspect for our team."We know we can score. We know that we have also a lot of very skilled players that not only can play well defensively, but are developing that side of their game so that we can become a team that's more difficult to score against. That's an important part of our growth.»Do you think Matthews can pull it off?