Theory on Auston Matthews' injury troubles emerges after detailed research

It was only two seasons ago that Toronto Maple Leafs forward and future captain Auston Matthews scored 69 goals, which was only two years after he scored 60 goals.

But in his first year as Maple Leafs captain after he succeeded John Tavares in the role, his goal scoring dipped to 33 goals in 67 games last year in which he missed multiple games because of an injury that he even traveled to Germany to seek treatment.

So far this year, he has 13 goals in 26 games. He's missed five games because of injury, and he's on pace for 34 goals in 69 games. Even though most players would gladly take 34 goals in a season, it's not the kind of scoring Matthews has shown in his career.

A new theory has come up on why Matthews doesn't appear as explosive by a well known Maple Leafs supporter on social media implying he was continuously played so that he could try and reach 70 goals rather than rest for the postseason under now-ex coach Sheldon Keefe, and that he never recovered fully.

Matthews remains a talented goal scorer, but the explosiveness that made him a constant threat to easily reach 50-60 goals scored doesn't appear to be there anymore.

The Maple Leafs as a whole have been very inconsistent so far this year, and are currently in the sixth spot in the Atlantic.

Unfortunately for the Maple Leafs, Matthews isn't the only player who isn't scoring at his normal pace.

Matthews, who has four goals in his last 10 games, one of them being into an empty net, is one of multiple players experiencing a drop-off:

Matthew Knies: 3G last 18 games
Max Domi: 2G last 21 games
William Nylander: 3G last 14 games
John Tavares: 2G last 13 games
Auston Matthews: 4G (1 ENG) last 10 games