Auston Matthews looks like himself again in new offseason footage

Auston Matthews is looking to prepare for the season and his legs look as fresh as ever with new video showing him working on his form back home in Arizona.

It was March 12 when Auston Matthews was taken out by Radko Gudas and his season was ended. He underwent knee surgery and there were a lot of questions about how he would handle things going forward considering he had less than minimal protection from his teammates.

But things have turned around pretty quickly for the Maple Leafs and Matthews is seemingly more and more confident that the team's season last year was a blip on the radar and with Gavin McKenna potentially by his side, the former 69-goal scorer could be back in business.

Arizona footage shows that Auston Matthews and his shot could be back for real

We're all just waiting though toes how he's going to handle his new legs after knee surgery, and he was taking time in Arizona this summer to train at home and get himself in the best shape possible, and from the looks of it he's doing pretty well so far.

Video surfaced of Matthews skating in Arizona alongside good friend Clayton Keller, as he was looking as mobile as can be with his shot looking as lethal as ever:

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Matthews showed no signs of being hindered by any quick movements, and his one shot that was a turnaround wrister that beat the goalie was something we've seen in years past. He looks healthy, and is moving like we're used to. There's no sluggishness or hesitation, and Matthews is looking like he's at full gear.

The shot was always there but it's the compounding issues that have kept it hidden away

We cannot understate just how good Matthews' shot really is, as it's one of the best if not the best in the entire league when he's on. But he's also dealt with some serious injury concerns the past two seasons that has hindered his ability to shoot.

He had back injuries that he went to Germany for and seemingly got resolved and seemingly got resolved, but he didn't look nearly as sharp. Then there was some concerns about his wrist, and now this latest knee injury really put things in doubt; not to mention being neutered by Craig Berube offensively.

There's a lot of discussion about how healthy Matthews can really be considering he's missed 37 games over the past two seasons, and has injury concerns from early on his career. He's not exactly made of stone, and being a top star he's targeted more often than most (ie. the Gudas incident) so it's a genuine question if he can stay healthy.

But that video shows at the very least that Matthews is getting to the point we expect him to be at where he's able to quickly adjust on the fly, make turnaround shots, and look the player we've seen over the past decade.

It's not a guarantee that Matthews is healthy but he sure looks the part. And for some Maple Leafs fans (myself included) that's a great sign regardless of what it's leading to.

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