Leafs legend sends Auston Matthews some words of encouragement following milestone night

Matthews is not only the frontrunner for the Rocket Richard Trophy, but in many circles, he's also the clear frontrunner for the Hart Memorial Trophy as well, which would mark his second in 3 seasons as well. From there, the Ted Lindsay award is also up for grabs, with the race likely being between Matthews, MacKinnon and perhaps Connor McDavid or Nikita Kucherov. Matthews is also one of the premier two-way centers in the game, which puts him on the radar for the Selke Trophy, and his 2 minor penalties this season also has him in contention for the Lady Byng Trophy as well.

The season that Auston Matthews is having is an historic one to be sure, and he's even finding some encouragement coming from Leafs alumni as well. Following his record-setting 50th goal in 54 games, making Matthews the fastest US-born player to achieve that milestone, he received some words of encouragement from Leafs legend Doug Gilmour.

Gilmour still owns the Maple Leafs franchise record for most points in a single season with 127 points back in 1992-93. The Leafs legend also took part in the All-Star festivities in Toronto a couple of weeks ago, playing the role of passer in the accuracy shooting competition - a competition in which Matthews had excelled, finishing 2nd, just a hair behind Connor McDavid.

The respect that someone like Gilmour has for Matthews must be a huge motivator for the goal scoring phenom. An all-time Leafs legend being in your corner must feel pretty good, and Gilmour isn't the only one either. Over All-Star weekend, Wendel Clark also sang Matthews' praises, and Rick Vaive, the former Leafs' single season goal scoring leader was very vocal with his support of Matthews beating his record as well.

Greatness recognizes greatness, as they say, and some of the former greats rallying behind Matthews in his pursuit of yet another record-setting season in Toronto is just the type of content we needed this week.