The Toronto Maple Leafs made an announcement about captain Auston Matthews before his game on Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Matthews and the Maple Leafs are in Columbus to play the Blue Jackets in the second night of a back-to-back in a game featuring the return of former Blue Jackets winger Kirill Marchenko to Columbus for the first time since an offseason trade to Toronto for Matthew Knies.
Before the game, Toronto took to social media to make a special announcement about their captain.
Auston Matthews Skating in 700th Career Game for Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs took to their social media to share the good news that Matthews was skating in his 700th career regular-season game for Toronto, becoming the 17th player in franchise history to do so.
“Forward Auston Matthews is skating in the 700th game of his NHL career. He becomes the 17th player in Toronto Maple Leafs history to play 700 games with the franchise,” the Maple Leafs wrote on their X.
Forward Auston Matthews is skating in the 700th game of his NHL career.
He becomes the 17th player in Toronto Maple Leafs history to play 700 games with the franchise. https://t.co/j0Qw6QqX8V
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) October 20, 2026
Auston Matthews Maple Leafs Career
The Maple Leafs originally drafted Matthews with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, and he has spent his entire pro career with the franchise since then.
Matthews immediately burst onto the scene in his rookie year as he scored 40 goals and 69 points in 82 games while winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.
Matthews then won the Hart Memorial Trophy in 2021-22 as the NHL MVP, after scoring 60 goals and 106 points in 73 games that season.
Overall, Matthews has 435 goals and 796 points in the 699 regular-season games heading into his 700th game on Tuesday. He has also played in 68 postseason games for Toronto, scoring 26 goals and 59 points in the playoffs.
Matthews is on pace to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame when it’s all said and done due to his incredible individual scoring numbers and international success with Team USA, but one thing he hasn’t achieved yet is playoff success, as the Maple Leafs haven’t won the Stanley Cup yet.
Maybe, just maybe, this could finally be the year that Matthews lifts his first cup.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Maple Leafs Announce Auston Matthews News Before CBJ Game appeared first on HEAVY.