SportsHockeyMaple Leafs

Oddsmakers predict monster season for Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews next year

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
|
Jul 8 2025, 4:53 pm
Oddsmakers predict monster season for Toronto Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews next year
Marc DesRosiers/Imagn Images

If the Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping to have a big upcoming season, they’ll need their biggest star to be a bigger factor than he was last year.

Anyone who watched the Leafs closely last season could tell that just one year removed from his best year, Toronto captain Auston Matthews wasn’t exactly at peak.

Admitting at his end-of-season press conference he’d been dealing with a lingering wrist injury, Matthews finished the season with 33 goals in 67 games, a far cry from a franchise-record 69 goals in 81 games the season prior.

But while some fans and media might be concerned that the long-term effects of his injury might carry on to next season, oddsmakers don’t seem to see it the same way.

In the opening FanDuel odds of next year’s Rocket Richard Trophy for the top goal scorer in the league, Matthews trails only Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl.

Draisaitl won the award this past season for the first time this past season, scoring 52 goals, seven more than Toronto’s William Nylander, who finished with 45.

Assuming Draisaitl’s production stays similar, 19 goals is a big jump for most players to make, but Matthews has a much deeper resume than most players.

Matthews (and, apparently, the oddsmakers) are banking on an uptick in his shooting percentage, which was at a career low 12.8 per cent last year.

Here’s how the top 15 odds in the Rocket Richard Trophy for next season shake out:

  • Leon Draisaitl, +310
  • Auston Matthews, +320
  • Kirill Kaprizov, +500
  • Mikko Rantanen, +1300
  • David Pastrnak, +1500
  • Brayden Point, +1800
  • Nathan MacKinnon, +1800
  • Connor McDavid, +2200
  • William Nylander, +2300
  • Jack Hughes, +3200
  • Tage Thompson, +3200
  • Alex Ovechkin, +4000
  • Sam Reinhart, +4000
  • Jake Guentzel, +6500
  • Zach Hyman, +7500

While it’s still a few months out from the NHL season getting underway, early predictions seem to be strong for the Leafs’ offensive talents next year.

ADVERTISEMENT