Auston Matthews gave the Maple Leafs exactly the kind of preseason jolt they wanted.
In Toronto’s first preseason game of the 2026-27 season, all eyes were on the captain and how he would look after recovering from the MCL tear he suffered last year. Matthews answered with a sharp night, picking up an assist on Darren Raddysh’s goal and firing six shots. More importantly, he looked like himself again.
The biggest sign came in the speed department. Matthews hit a burst of 35 km/h on Saturday night, a striking number for a player coming off such an intense surgery.
Last season, he cleared that mark only twice. He matched that total in game one of the preseason.
That kind of pace changes everything for Matthews. He entered the zone with confidence, didn’t hesitate on his shots, moved well and even brought a little physicality. For Toronto, that’s the version that matters most.
When Matthews was piling up goals, speed was always part of the package. In 2022-23, he sat in the 87th percentile for 35+ km/h bursts and the 92nd percentile for bursts between 29-32 km/h, a big reason he rolled to another 40-goal season.
The concern had been whether back injuries and, more recently, the MCL tear had taken some of that edge away. On Saturday, he looked like the old captain again. He didn’t score, but he looked a long way from the player he’d been the previous two seasons.
Whether that level sticks is the next question. But if Matthews keeps showing that his speed and shot are back, production should follow soon enough.
Toronto gets another look at him against Ottawa on Wednesday.
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