The Toronto Maple Leafs smoked the Calgary Flames on Monday night 6-2. After an eventful trade deadline, Toronto has responded with a few great wins in a row. Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews led the way for the Maple Leafs and entered the record books in the process. Marner had two assists to set the mark for multi-helper games in franchise history. And Matthews’ two goals both came in the second period, which was his 62ns multi-goal period. Athlon Sports accumulated the stats.
Most career multi-assist regular season/playoff games by a player in @MapleLeafs franchise history:
132- Mitch Marner (Via his 2 earlier tonight in a victory over the Flames)
131- Borje Salming
117- Darryl Sittler
112- Mats Sundin
96- Doug Gilmour
91- Dave Keon
81- Tomas Kaberle pic.twitter.com/bq4tKFI8V1— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) March 18, 2025
Marner took over for Borje Salming as the Maple Leafs’ leader in multi-assist games. Salming is a franchise legend who has his number in the rafters of Scotiabank Arena despite never winning a Stanley Cup. This offseason, Marner will hit free agency which could end his Toronto career.
Matthews’ second-period performance was the 36th such period of his career. That is the most in Maple Leafs history and among all American-born players. Darryl Sittler and Jeremy Roenick held those marks respectively. He also had an assist in the period, making it the 11th three-point period of his career. That is third in Maple Leafs history behind Sittler and Marner and tied with Dave Keon and Frank Mahavolich, per NHL Stats.
Could this be the end of a Maple Leafs era?
The Maple Leafs went all-in at the trade deadline, adding Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo. They gave up two first-round picks and top prospect Fraser Minten to get those two pieces for a playoff run. Their issues in the first round of the playoffs have been well-documented but they are hoping these pieces can help them get over the hump.
At the end of this season, Marner and John Tavares will both be free agents. This competitive window opened when the Maple Leafs signed Tavares to a seven-year contract in 2018. Now, he and Marner could be on the move and a new era could be starting in Toronto. But the Ontario natives have said they want to stay with the team.
If the Maple Leafs lose in the first round again this year, new general manager Brad Treliving may not have a choice but to move on from both Marner and Tavares. While the playoff system is mostly to blame for their routine losses to the Bruins and Lightning, they have spent too much money to keep losing before the conference final.
Marner and Matthews set franchise records on Monday in what could be their last St Patrick’s Day playing for the St Pat’s.
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