If Auston Matthews gets to 70 goals, he should win the Hart Trophy. Full stop.

With 29 games to go, Auston Matthews needs just two goals to hit the 50-goal plateau for the second time in his career.

While 48 goals in 52 outings is certainly nothing to sneeze at, the real story here is the fact that the 26-year-old sniper is looking to get somewhere that an NHL player hasn’t in 31 years: The 70-goal plateau. Not even Alex Ovechkin, who’s arguably the best to ever do it, has been capable of pulling off the incredible feat. In 1992-93, both Teemu Selanne (76) and Alex Mogilny (76) were the last to get there, and thanks to back-to-back hat-tricks, Matthews is now pace for a mind-numbing 75 goals.

Plain and simple: If Auston Matthews gets to 70 goals this season, he should win the Hart Trophy. Full stop.

And that’s taking nothing away from the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid, among others. They’ve had exceptional seasons, but nothing quite like the one Matthews is currently on track for.

Simply put, if the two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner (soon to be three) won the Hart Trophy when he scored 60 times in 73 contests, how could he not win it if he scored 70?

Fair question, isn’t it?

Often times, the big conversation surrounding the dubious award, especially when it involves someone who’s already won it, is the whole goal post debate. Well, Matthews is moving his own post —from 60 to 70. He’s raised the bar and should be judged as such. What more does the guy need to do?

Additionally, most importantly, you take Auston Matthews off this Maple Leafs team and it’s not egregious to suggest that they miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs altogether. Hell, even at this freakish goal scoring pace, it looks and feels like they’re going to be in a dog fight right down to the wire to make it. He’s bringing new meaning to the term, “most valuable player.”