Auston Matthews is still the best player the Toronto Maple Leafs have. NHL Network just ranked him outside the top seven centres in hockey.
That's the headline from NHL Network's fresh top 20 list, released this week ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Matthews checked in at 8th overall. Last year, he sat 7th. One spot doesn't sound dramatic, but the number behind it tells a rougher story.
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Matthews finished this past season with 27 goals and 53 points in 60 games. That's a real dip for a player who used to threaten 60 goals every winter.
His last 10 games of the year produced just six points. His final five brought two.
And here's the part that stings a little more if you're a Leafs fan. Only one Toronto centre made this list at all.
John Tavares had 31 goals and 71 points, an outright better offensive season than Matthews put up, and NHL Network left him off completely.
Tavares outscored Matthews but still got left off the list
Is that fair? That was the exact question Leafslatest posed to fans this week, right in the same post announcing the snub.
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Leaving Tavares off entirely, after a 71-point season, reeks of reputation bias over actual production. Matthews is the brand name. Tavares still put up the bigger year. Both should be in that top-20.
The Leafs backdrop doesn't help either player's case. Toronto finished 32-36-14, good for 78 points and 28th overall in the league.
They closed the year on a seven-game losing streak. Their last 10 games went 2-7-1, the kind of finish nobody wants attached to their name on national television.
Think of it like a stock trading well above its earnings. Eventually the market corrects, and that's basically what just happened here.
None of that changes what Toronto needs heading into camp. The Leafs need their $13 million centre playing like a top five player again, not a top eight afterthought.
Whether that happens under Jim Hiller's system, or whether this ranking becomes a talking point that follows Matthews all season, is a question nobody in that locker room seems eager to answer yet.
Is it fair that John Tavares got left off the top 20 centre list entirely?
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