The Toronto Maple Leafs have a set of elite offensive players known as the Core Four of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares. The team’s elite defenseman, Morgan Rielly, is also a high-scoring offensive defenseman.
Fifty-four games is just at the two-thirds point of the season. At this point, where do these players stand in their scoring? In this post, I’ll take a deeper dive into their statistics over seven key offensive categories.
Offensive Area One: Goals Scored
Matthews leads the Maple Leafs in goals with 49. He’s by far the team’s most prolific scorer and this NHL season’s top sniper. Nylander’s 29 goals are a significant part of the team’s offensive production. Marner and Tavares have also made notable contributions with 22 and 15 goals, respectively. Rielly has chipped in with seven goals from the blue line.
Goals Scored:
- Auston Matthews: 49 goals
- William Nylander: 29 goals
- Mitch Marner: 22 goals
- John Tavares: 15 goals
- Morgan Rielly: 7 goal
Related: Auston Matthews Deserves Hart Trophy Consideration
Offensive Area Two: Assists
Nylander and Marner are tied for the lead among the Maple Leafs’ top assist producers, with 43 each. Their playmaking abilities have been instrumental in setting up scoring opportunities for their teammates. Rielly has also been a key playmaker from the blue line, registering 36 assists, while Tavares has contributed 25. Matthews follows with 24. While he is an offensive facilitator, the truth is that he’s a better goal scorer.
Assists:
- William Nylander: 43 assists
- Mitch Marner: 43 assists
- Morgan Rielly: 36 assists
- John Tavares: 25 assists
- Auston Matthews: 24 assists
Offensive Area Three: Total Points
After trailing Nylander for most of the season, Matthews has recently taken over the team lead with an impressive total of 73 points. Nylander closely follows with 72. He’s still on pace for a 100-point season. Marner has also been a consistent point producer with 65. As always, he’s demonstrating his versatile offensive impact, and another 90-point season seems on the horizon. Rielly’s offence has earned him 43 points, while Tavares rounds out the top five with 40 points.
Points:
- Auston Matthews: 73 points
- William Nylander: 72 points
- Mitch Marner: 65 points
- Morgan Rielly: 43 points
- John Tavares: 40 points
Offensive Area Four: Plus/Minus Rating
For those interested in plus/minus as a rating (as I am), Matthews leads the team with a plus-22. He’s becoming an even stronger two-way player, impacting the team positively at both ends of the ice. Marner follows closely with a plus-19, also showing his defensive responsibility and ability to contribute in all situations. Nylander and Rielly both have a plus-1 rating, while Tavares has a minus-4 rating. [Much of the disparity in plus/minus depends on what line the coaching staff matches each forward line against.]
Plus/Minus:
- Auston Matthews: +22
- Mitch Marner: +19
- Morgan Rielly: +1
- William Nylander: +1
- John Tavares: -4
Related: Maple Leafs’ Bobby McMann & Marshall Rifai: What’s Not to Like?
Offensive Area Five: Average Time on Ice per Game
Here, Rielly leads the Maple Leafs, averaging 24:21 per game. Marner comes in second with 21:24. Matthews follows in third with 21:09. Nylander also averages more minutes this season than in the past with 20:07. Tavares is the only player among the top five point producers who is averaging less than 20 minutes of ice time with 18:19.
Average Time on Ice per Game:
- Morgan Rielly: 24 minutes and 21 seconds
- Mitch Marner: 21 minutes and 24 seconds
- Auston Matthews: 21 minutes and 9 seconds
- William Nylander: 20 minutes and 7 seconds
- John Tavares: 18 minutes and 19 seconds
Offensive Area Six: Shooting Percentage
Matthews leads the team in shooting percentage with an impressive 21.5%, which reflects his ability to capitalize on scoring chances and find the back of the net with consistency. Marner follows with a 16.4%, which also suggests his accuracy and scoring touch. Nylander has a 13.1% shooting percentage, while Tavares’ has taken a bit of a nosedive this season at 7.9%. Rielly has a lower shooting percentage of 5.3%.
Two interesting notes about this stat. First, Tavares’ career shooting percentage is 12.8%, and he’s never had a season under 10%. His poor season’s shooting percentage is an aberration and accounts for his lower point totals.
Related: Maple Leafs’ Conor Timmins Deserves More Opportunity
Second, among goal scorers, Matthews is NOT the top scorer with the highest shooting percentage. That would be second-place goal-scorer Sam Reinhart (with 39 goals for the Florida Panthers), who has an amazing 26.7% shooting percentage. More than one in four of his shots finds the back of the net.]
Shooting Percentage:
- Auston Matthews: 21.5%
- Mitch Marner: 16.4%
- William Nylander: 13.1%
- John Tavares: 7.9%
- Morgan Rielly: 5.3%
Offensive Area Seven: Faceoff Win Percentage
Although many analysts don’t include faceoff win percentage in their offensive categories, I like to because it’s key to puck possession. Here’s where Tavares shines among the NHL’s best. His faceoff win percentage is a stellar 60.6%. Matthews ranks second on the Maple Leafs with an impressive 53.5%. Nylander falls below 50% with a 41.1% success rate, while Marner seldom takes a faceoff – and for good reason. He’s put up a faceoff percentage of 18.2%. Rielly, as a defenseman, does not take faceoffs.
Faceoff Win Percentage:
- John Tavares: 60.6%
- Auston Matthews: 53.5%
- William Nylander: 41.1%
- Mitch Marner: 18.2%
- Morgan Rielly: N/A
A Final Word About the Maple Leafs Top Five Scorers
These statistics offer a comprehensive overview of the Maple Leafs’ top five scorers’ performance this season. Each player makes contributions in different areas. However, together, the team has some great talent. Among them are the goal-scoring of Matthews and the faceoff prowess of Tavares.