Author
Mark Keast has recently covered the sports betting industry in Canada for The Parleh, and is a long-time sportswriter and editor, most notably with the Toronto Sun.
Who Does Auston Matthews Play Best Against?
Any optimism around Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup odds this season hinges around Auston Matthews.
Last season, his 69-goal performance was one of the NHL’s most talked-about stories. Over the summer, Matthews became the 26th captain in team history, after teammate John Tavares agreed to hand the responsibility over. A new era in Leafland has begun.
Keeping all of this in mind, OntarioBets.com took a deeper dive into Matthews’ stats, breaking out the teams he plays well against and the teams he struggles against. First, the teams who have the most reason to dread facing the new Leafs captain, whose team has 16.0 decimal odds to win the Stanley Cup at NorthStar Bets Ontario Sportsbook.
Who Does Auston Matthews Play Best Against?
Rank | Team | Games Played Against | Total Points Against | Points Per Game |
1 | Seattle Kraken | 6 games | 11 points | 1.83 PPG |
2 | New Jersey Devils | 18 games | 28 points | 1.56 PPG |
3 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 15 games | 22 points | 1.47 PPG |
Matthews has piled up his highest points-per-game total (1.83) against the Seattle Kraken, but in a small sample of six games. Among Eastern Conference teams, the New Jersey Devils are the team Matthews is most productive against at 1.56 ppg (28 points in 18 career games). If he can replicate that pace, Matthews will see his NHL MVP odds increase as he aims for his second Hart Trophy.
Who Does Auston Matthews Play Worst Against?
Rank | Team | Games Played Against | Total Points Against | Points Per Game |
1 | Arizona Coyotes | 14 games | 9 points | 0.64 PPG |
2 | Los Angeles Kings | 13 games | 9 points | 0.69 PPG |
3 | St. Louis Blues | 14 games | 10 points | 0.71 PPG |
Playing “worst” is a relative term with a player as explosive as Matthews. He has 649 points in 562 career games, so his average pace is 1.15 points ger game. That is sixth among active players and No. 20 on the all-time list, ahead of such luminaries as Nathan MacKinnon, Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin.
But for the record, the team with the best track record of keeping Matthews relatively in check might come as a surprise to Ontario sports betting onlookers: It’s the franchise formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes. That team moved to Utah and will play in Salt Lake City starting this season.
2024 Maple Leafs Outlook
The pomp of who captains the team is all well and good, but anyone who follows the team has the calluses from decades of losing and disappointment. This is the ninth year of the Matthews-Mitch Marner-William Nylander era. Those three, combined with Tavares, take up over $46.6 million in salary this upcoming season.
The Leafs have one playoff series victory to show for it – in the spring of 2023 over the Tampa Bay Lightning. They haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967, around the time a band called the Beatles was releasing “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
As of Sept. 27, Toronto had 2024-25 Stanley Cup odds ranking them in the top 10 among teams, but barely.
The Leafs have a new coach, Craig Berube, who has a Cup ring, and early media reports from training camp have mentioned the intensity of the daily skates.
Matthews left practice early on Sept. 24 with an upper-body injury, but it was not major and he returned to practice on Friday. Matthews wasn’t slotted to play Toronto’s second preseason game on Tuesday in Ottawa anyway.
Early lines in camp have Matthews reunited with Marner on his right flank and a beefed-up Matthew Knies (with 10 extra pounds) on the left. Our Toronto Maple Leafs betting guide gives more insight.
This is a contract year for Marner, so a huge spotlight will be on him. Can he help push Matthews to the 70-goal mark?
ESPN posted a story this week listing Matthews as one of its candidates to regress this season, citing the low probability of him scoring 70. Plus, he has played 80 games in a season just twice in his eight-year career; last season was the first time he did that since his rookie year, 2016-17.
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Odds on NHL Props And More
Looking at some of the sportsbooks, Matthews is a betting favourite for several of the NHL’s major awards. BetMGM Ontario Sportsbook reported this week that he is generating the highest ticket percentage (20.7) and highest handle (35%) for the Maurice “Rocket” Richard award as the league’s leading scorer. He’s 13.0 to take the Hart Trophy as Most Valuable Player, behind Connor McDavid (2.25), Nathan MacKinnon (9.5), Leon Draisaitl (11.0), and Matthew Tkachuk (11.0).
Matthews won the Hart Trophy for the first time in the 2021-22 season. McDavid has earned the award three times, tied for the most among active players.
Remember that there are plenty of other preseason futures props at Ontario sportsbook apps, such as odds to win the Atlantic Division. Here is a look at how Matthews has done against division opponents in his career:
How Does Auston Matthews Play Against Divisional Opponents?
Rank | Team | Games Played Against | Total Points Against | Points Per Game |
1 | Ottawa Senators | 33 games | 47 points | 1.42 PPG |
2 | Detroit Red Wings | 24 games | 32 points | 1.33 PPG |
3 | Montreal Canadiens | 34 games | 45 points | 1.32 PPG |
4 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 22 games | 25 points | 1.14 PPG |
5 | Buffalo Sabres | 26 games | 29 points | 1.12 PPG |
6 | Boston Bruins | 19 games | 21 points | 1.11 PPG |
7 | Florida Panthers | 26 games | 25 points | 0.96 PPG |
USA Today photo by Dan Hamilton
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