Auston Matthews is an American ice hockey center and captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted in 2016, Matthews made NHL history with four goals on his debut and set a Maple Leafs' rookie record with 40 goals in his first season, earning him the Calder Memorial Trophy. He won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy in 2020–21 and set records for most goals in a season by an American-born player and by a Maple Leafs player in 2021–22. As of 2025, Matthews is a seven-time All-Star and has received prestigious awards like the Ted Lindsay Award and the Hart Trophy in his illustrious career. Additionally, he was the NHL All-Star Game MVP in 2024.
Auston Matthews led the United States men's national under-18 ice hockey team to a gold medal in the 2014 IIHF World U18 Championship and earned MVP honors in the 2015 Championship. At the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships, he helped secure a bronze medal for the United States.
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How Many Career Hat Tricks Does Auston Matthews Have?
According to Statmuse, Auston Matthews has scored a total of 13 regular-season hat tricks in his NHL career as of January 2025. He recorded his first hat trick in the 2016-17 season. Since then, he added one more in 2019-20 and another in 2020-21. The following season, 2021-22, was his best, with four hat tricks. He didn’t score any hat tricks in the 2022-23 season but bounced back with six hat tricks in 2023-24.
1st Hat trick (2016-17 season)
Auston Matthews scored his first career hat trick on October 12, 2016, during his NHL debut against the Ottawa Senators. In that game, he scored four goals, contributing to the Toronto Maple Leafs' 5-4 overtime loss.
2nd Hat trick (2019-20)
According to Statmuse, His second hat trick came during the 2019-20 season, against the New Jersey Devils.
3rd Hat trick (2020-21 season)
As per Statmuse, Matthews scored his third hat trick on April 10, 2021, against the Ottawa Senators.
4 Hat tricks (2021-22 season)
According to Statmuse, In the 2021-22 season, Matthews scored four hat tricks and reached the milestone of 50 goals in a season.
6 Hat tricks (2023-24 season)
Auston Matthews scored a total of six hat tricks in the 2023-24 season, including two in a row. According to Hockey Reference, he achieved the second hat trick in his second game of the season against the Minnesota Wild, helping the Toronto Maple Leafs win 7-4. This feat made him the fifth player in NHL history to start a season with back-to-back hat tricks, joining notable players like Alex Ovechkin, Cy Denneny, Joe Malone, and Reg Noble.
According to NHL, his 13th hat trick came in a game against the Anaheim Ducks, where he also recorded two assists, giving him a career-high five points in that game. This achievement ties him with Mario Lemieux for the most hat tricks in a season since 1995-96. Matthews is now the 10th player in NHL history to score at least six hat tricks in one season.
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FAQs on Auston Matthews
A. Auston Matthews has scored 13 hat tricks as of January 2025.
A. Auston Matthews plays as a center.
A. Auston Matthews’s annual salary with the Toronto Maple Leafs is around $3,775,000.
A. Auston Matthews scored a natural hat trick in the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers.
A. In 2024, Auston Matthews set a new record for the most goals in a single NHL season during the salary cap era, scoring 69 goals. This achievement surpassed Alexander Ovechkin's previous record of 65 goals from the 2007-08 season.
