NHL analyst sounds the alarm on Auston Matthews' power-play stats without Mitch Marner: "Not a great look"

Auston Matthews is set to play his first regular season without Mitch Marner by his side, after the Toronto Maple Leafs finally broke up their Core Four. Toronto sent Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade deal in exchange for Nicolas Roy.

Matthews is a prolific scorer who has proven his mettle during power-play situations. In nine years with the Leafs, Matthews has amassed 204 power-play points (105 goals and 99 assists).

However, TSN's hockey analyst Travis Yost pointed out one area of concern for Matthews.

"In the 100 minutes Matthews did not play with Marner on the man advantage, Toronto’s power play was a shell of itself, about 30 per cent less proficient in rate scoring," wrote Yost.

Yost's analysis is derived from data sets across Natural Stat Trick, NHL.com and Evolving Hockey, but contain two major caveats — Matthews and Marner's time together on the Leafs' power-play is considered only between 2022 and 2025, and their TOI together may be inclusive of shift-change anomalies, i.e., times when Marner left the ice, but Matthews stayed on during the power play, or vice versa.

"(Despite data caveats) it’s still not a great look. But the numbers are far less convincing in a post-Marner world on the power play, and if Toronto sees another step down in performance on the man advantage, this organization’s divisional championship streak might end loudly at one," added Yost.

---

Auston Matthews' highest TOI during Leafs power play is not with Mitch Marner

Since the early Core Four days, the Toronto Maple Leafs' top PP unit has starred Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Matthews has played the most power-play minutes with Nylander (704:25), and not Mitch Marner (655:01).

During his power-play time with Marner, Matthews has scored 39 goals and tallied 35 total assists, whereas with Nylander on the ice, Matthews has 41 goals and 37 total assists.