2024 Maple Leafs Auston Matthews’ Rocket Richard Odds

Auston Matthews scores goals as frequently as Patrick Mahomes accumulates touchdown throws, an ominous notion for the other elite goalscorers in the 2023-24 Rocket Richard race.

2024 Maple Leafs Auston Matthews’ Rocket Richard Odds

The Maple Leafs’ sniper has scored 53 goals in 58 games and is the runaway -5000 favourite to win the 2023-24 Rocket Richard Trophy. With 11 goals in the last eight games, including back-to-back hat tricks against the Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks, Matthews has seen his 2024 Rocket Richard odds shorten from -400 to -5000 since Feb. 15.  

He’s also seen his NHL odds of winning the 2024 Hart Trophy shorten from fourth favourite to front-runner in the same time frame. 

Second-favourite Sam Reinhart scored his first two goals in eight games on Thursday against Montreal since Matthews embarked on his latest 11-goal tear. 

Matthews took the top goalscoring plaudits in 2020-21 and 2021-22, scoring 41 and 60 goals, respectively. The 2020-21 season was cut short due to COVID-19, making his 41 goals in 56 games all the more impressive. 

Reinhart, at +1400, has scored 41 goals in 59 games, while Boston’s David Pastrňák, who has potted 38 goals in 61 games, is the third favourite at +1800. 

Matthews Heavily Favoured to Win the Rocket Richard

Reinhart is already in uncharted territory. Just 59 games into the season, he has already eclipsed the best goal return of his nine-year career, 33 goals in 2021-22.

Another day, another power-play goal for Sam Reinhart! 😼

That's his 22nd PPG of the season! pic.twitter.com/5kC5oK823N

— NHL (@NHL) February 10, 2024

The Panthers forward is also enjoying an unprecedented season regarding proficiency. He leads the NHL in shooting percentage (25.3%), a swollen rate he’ll have difficulty maintaining. His previous best was 19.2% in 2020-21. Also, Reinhart’s .35 goals-per-game career rate is dwarfed by Matthews’ .65 goals-per-game return. 

Pastrňák, who scored a career-high 61 goals last season and shared the Rocket Richard Trophy with Alexander Ovechkin in 2019-20, has too much ground to make up.

Kucherov, with 38 goals in 61 contests, has never scored more than 41 goals, which he achieved in 2018-19, while MacKinnon, like Pastrňák, is too far off the current pace. MacKinnon has 36 goals in 61 games. 

In addition, Matthews has scored 39 goals in 37 games since Dec. 1, a terrifyingly prolific and unmatchable pace. If he continues on his current trajectory, Matthews will score 74 goals, something no player has accomplished since Teemu Selänne and Alexander Mogilny in 1992-93.

Who Has Won the Most Rocket Richard Trophies?

Alexander Ovechkin has the most Rocket Richard Trophies, winning a mind-boggling nine times. 

Bobby Hull had seven goalscoring titles, Phil Esposito had six, while Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Charlie Conacher and Maurice Richard, after whom the trophy is named, each had five. 

Who Has the Most Playoff Points for the Maple Leafs?

Doug Gilmour has the most playoff points for the Maple Leafs, with 77 (17 goals, 60 assists) in 52 postseason games. Mats Sundin had 70 points in 77 playoff games, the second most in the Leafs’ playoff history. 

The current era, headlined by Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander, still has a lot of ground to make up. 

With 47 points (10 goals, 37 assists) in 50 games, Marner is 13th on the all-time Leafs’ playoff scoring list, while Matthews, 16th on the list, has 44 points (22 goals, 22 assists) in 50 games. 

Nylander is 18th on the list with 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 50 games.