Leafs' Auston Matthews could win up to five NHL Awards this year

Auston Matthews might not have had his season end the way he wanted for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he’s still got a chance at picking up some more serious hardware.

Today, the Leafs star forward was announced as one of three finalists for the NHL’s Ted Lindsay Trophy, an award handed out each year based on a player vote of the most valuable players in the league.

Matthews was nominated alongside Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.

It’s the third award nomination for end-of-season trophies for Matthews, who also was nominated for the Lady Byng and Selke Awards, given out for gentlemanly play and the best defensive forward in the league.

Should Matthews win it all, he’d end the 2023-24 campaign racking up five officially recognized NHL trophies.

Earlier in the year, Matthews was named the All-Star Game MVP in Toronto while being one of four team captains, and his 69 goals per game earned him his third career Rocket Richard Trophy for top goal-scorer in the league.

Matthews finished Toronto’s playoffs with one goal and two assists in five games. He was pulled from Game 4 by the team doctor and sat out Games 5 and 6 while dealing with an illness and complications from what he called a “weird hit.”

“It sucks, it was killing me to watch [and not get a chance to play in Games 5 and 6]. [I was] proud of the guys and how they fought and climbed our way back into the series. I was fortunate to get to play in Game 7 and go out there and give it my all. Obviously, it’s disappointing and frustrating,” Matthews said on Monday.

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