Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews has claimed the title as the league's best goal scorer. We look at whether he can he win a third straight Rocket Richard Trophy with our top NHL picks.
The National Hockey League turned the dial toward more offense last season, with an average of 6.22 goals scored per game. It was the first season since 2005-06 that the total goals per game average was over six.
A higher scoring league offers more opportunities for the top scorers to pull away from the field. Last season, Auston Matthews finished with 60 goals to lead the league. He was the first 60-goal scorer in the NHL since Steven Stamkos in 2011-2012.
The path to consistent goal-scoring glory has mostly been forged by volume shooters. In the past decade, Alex Ovechkin has won six goal-scoring titles outright and shared the 2019-2020 award with David Pastrnak. Matthews has won the past two seasons. Both Matthews and Alex Ovechkin consistently put up at least four shots per game.