NHL analysts believe Auston Matthews has left the “elite” group of players.

Despite an equalizer on Tuesday, the scrutiny surrounding Mathews’ form is not expected to ease despite the strong performance. The Leafs captain has 23 points in 27 games this season and has been nowhere near his 69-goal campaign in 2023-24.

Even before peaking with 69 goals, Matthews had scored 60 goals and 106 points two seasons before he was awarded the Hart Trophy. He was considered in the same vein as Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and above the chase group led by Leon Draisaitl.

But as TSN analysts Bryan Hayes, Martin Biron and Frankie Corrado discussed Thursday, Matthews’ recent decline that has continued since last season has dropped him from that leading category.

“It’s not right now,” Hayes said. “Like, that’s not a five-game slump. That’s not a ten-game slump, is it? A big goal late in a game against a team you should have beaten anyway and beat handily isn’t going to launch you back into McDavid, MacKinnon territory.”

Biron believed Matthews would come back strong after scoring a career-low 33 goals and totaling 78 points in a 2024-25 regular season shortened to 67 games due to recurring injuries.

“I thought Matthews was going to have a great year this year,” Biron said. “But now more than a quarter of the way, more than a third of the way through the season, I have to step back and say I don’t see the elite of the elite that Matthews can bring.”

According to Corrado, opposing defenses are already afraid of Matthews, a feeling that Matthews, MacKinnon and Draisaitl generate.

“To really be with those types of guys, when teams play against you and game plan for you, you have to be afraid that they’re going to feel like, ‘Man, if I get my third D pair or if I get my third or fourth line on the ice against Auston Matthews, I’m fired because he’s going to make us pay,'” Corrado said.

“Until he takes over games at a more consistent rate, he’s going to remain at a level below the top players in the NHL.”

Like Matthews, the Edmonton Oilers also had a slow start to the season that was characteristic of the struggles of their superstar players. But the team and McDavid (56 points) and Draisaitl (47 points) have rallied with the pair ranking 2nd and 4th in total points scored, a list led by MacKinnon with 58 points.

Martin Biron feels Auston Matthews has been lucky after controversial move

Aside from Auston Matthews’ production, his on-ice behavior also came under scrutiny during Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. After the third-period power play goal, Matthews waved his hand over his ear in front of the Toronto crowd at Scotiabank Arena, which booed the team after falling behind by two goals.

During the discussion, Biron felt Matthews dodged a bullet as the Leafs were able to come from behind against the Blackhawks.

“I think he got lucky making the gesture and the Leafs came back and won this,” Biron said. “If they had lost to the Chicago Blackhawks the way they played, we would be saying something completely different this morning and the next few days.”

The Leafs came away with a 2-1-2 record in their five-game homestand. Matthews will now have to prove himself as Toronto plays two contenders in the next three games in the Washington Nationals and the Dallas Stars on the road.