Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews was placed second on Daily Faceoff’s rankings for Hart Trophy Candidates for the 2024-25 season.

Matthews ranked higher than one of the finalists from last season in Nikita Kucherov, as well as the winner in Nathan MacKinnon. The only player to have placed above Matthews on this list was Connor McDavid, which is nothing to scoff at.

The reasoning for Matthews placing so highly in the early rankings for the Hart Trophy are obvious. He is fresh off a year where he finished with 69 goals (the best total of the salary cap era) and has been the best goal-scorer since entering the league in 2016-17. Matthews also rounded out his game on the defensive side of the puck which has also earned him Selke Trophy votes in recent years, including a third-place finish last season.

Lest we forget that we are a little over two years removed from Matthews winning his first Hart Trophy off the backs of his first 60-goal campaign. This past season saw him finish fourth in Hart voting despite flirting with 70 goals, which in any other year would have almost certainly resulted in no worse than a third-place finish. He is certainly viewed as one of the best players in the world, but getting snubbed of a finalist place will likely motivate him to up the ante this time around.

Matthews will most certainly be the favourite to win his fourth career Rocket Trophy. The arrival of Craig Berube is likely going to help out in further rounding out his defensive play and that should make Matthews one of the finalists for the Selke. As for the Hart, it will likely take another strong individual season combined with the other finalists from a year ago taking a step back offensively (although good luck telling McDavid that) to give him a shot at his second Hart Trophy.

Some Leafs fans will surely be excited to know that their new captain is considered one of early favourites to get the honours of league MVP. Others will want to see him carry over that into the playoffs because that is what truly matters at this point.