The Harold Ballard era still haunts Maple Leafs fans to this day, but Auston Matthews' arrival has shifted the franchise from disappointing to full of potential.
When Ballard took over as majority owner in 1972, it gave the Maple Leafs an owner who was fiercely passionate about his team - to their detriment at times. Often micromanaging the team and being extremely hands-on, his reputation around Leafs Nation is one that could be considered cantankerous at best.
Though the team saw some measure of success in the playoffs, reaching the Division Finals twice (the NHL was then using the Adams and Norris Divisions within the Prince of Wales and Clarence Campbell Conferences) and making the postseason 13 times during Ballard's tenure - they never won the Cup with their last coming in 1967.
Matthews pulled the Maple Leafs out of a slump that lasted decades
But if you take a look at the team since the Ballard era stretching into the Auston Matthews era (1972-2016) their record and playoff success paint a picture of a team who consistently fails expectations.
From the 1972-73 season through the 2015-16 season (43 seasons of play; the 2004-05 season was cancelled due to the lockout), the Toronto Maple Leafs' combined regular-season record was 1,426-1,541-323-128 (W-L-T-OTL) in 3,418 games.
That equates to only a 41.7% winning percentage over the past 54 years, with their postseason record coming in at 105-127 over 232 games - or a 45.2% winning percentage.
Since Auston Matthews came onto the team in 2016-17, the Maple Leafs have a 440-250-92 record in 782 games which is much a more respectable 56.3% win percentage in the regular season, having finished no lower than third place except for last season.
They also made the playoffs nine straight seasons, which eclipses their eight straight seasons from 1974-1981 but much like that stretch - never found sustained success in the postseason.
Matthews coming in didn't necessarily fix any of Toronto's problems, considering they are still without a Stanley Cup. But he did bring them into an era filled with a lot of hope and potential with proof that there was tangible success - just not where it mattered most.
The Matthews era changed expectations even without winning Lord Stanley
For years, fans really didn't know what they were getting. Older fans from the 70's and 80's could expect their team to make the postseason but not win, meanwhile the generation from 2005-06 until 2016 dealt with absolute misery.
Now, there is at least some semblance of stability. Counting last year as an outlier, the Maple Leafs making the playoffs nearly a decade straight while finishing in the top-three consistently, and having a superstar group of players gave fans who saw failure for a decade hope.
Failure now comes with not making the playoffs or making it past the second round as opposed to a consistent stretch of losing. Has it been perfect? No, but it's at least given fans hope. Matthews also quickly became the team's franchise cornerstone while already breaking records as he surpassed Mats Sundin for the all-time goal record with 421.
We as fans came to expect that Matthews was going to come in every year and have the potential to score 40+ goals while also complementing stars who were equally as consistent like John Tavares and Mitch Marner. It went from 'maybe they'll make it' to 'maybe this is the year.'
Last season may have made the Maple Leafs look worse than they have been but if you take a look at what Auston Matthews has done, he helped turn the franchise into a contender and their best stretch of success for over 50 years.
Has Auston Matthews given the Maple Leafs more success than you thought?
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