Chris Cuthbert sees a lot of Phil Esposito in Auston Matthews: Leafs Morning Take

With a goal on Wednesday night at Mullett Arena in Arizona, Auston Matthews will hit the 50-goal plateau for the second time in his NHL career.

The Arizona native is currently on pace for a ridiculous 75 goals. Absurd.

At any rate, we kicked off the Wednesday edition of Leafs Morning Take by dissecting the latest news on Joseph Woll. The 25-year-old was sent to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on a conditioning stint, which means, he’s getting very close to a potential return. With that in mind, we discussed what that could potentially mean for Martin Jones.

Presented by Door Dash, The Appetizer focused on Morgan Rielly’s unsuccessful suspension appeal. On Tuesday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman upheld the 5-game ban —outlining his decision in an 11-page report. Obviously, Toronto’s perfect 4-0-0 record without Rielly has cushioned the blow. Imagine if they were struggling?

After that, thanks to the Wendy’s Daily Faceoff Survivor, we previewed the first of two meetings in eight days between the Leafs and Coyotes. As mentioned, Auston Matthews is sitting on 49 goals and the Arizona product has a chance to hit 50 in front of family and friends —at a college barn, no less.

Meantime, courtesy of BATL Axe, legendary play by play voice Chris Cuthbert joined us. The future Hall-of-Famer will call the Leafs/Coyotes game on Sportsnet. We spent the majority of the interview talking about Auston Matthews and his ascension to greatness. It’s been a magical journey.

Lastly, Charm Diamond Centres sponsored our weekly look at the Atlantic Division standings. Following this impressive stretch, the Leafs are now three points up on Tampa with three games in hand.

Make a note to join us at 11 AM ET on Thursday as we recap Leafs/Coyotes plus look ahead to Leafs/Golden Knights.