Just halfway into the first season of his NHL career, Auston Matthews looks like the franchise player the Leafs were hoping for when they selected him with the first overall pick in the summer.
Even before the season started, the hype surrounding the 19-year-old was incredible thanks to his impressive performance at the World Cup of Hockey.
The hype increased significantly when Matthews scored four goals in his NHL debut, and ever since he's been nothing short of impressive.
One thing we've noticed from the rookie is that he shows up in big moments, and the Centennial Classic is the perfect example of this. In his first career outdoor game, he scored two goals, one of which was the game-winner in overtime.
With every game Matthews plays, he's building his legacy, and Leafs fans want to be apart of that legacy, no matter what the price may be, which leads us to a recent auction on NHL.com.
Matthews' game-worn Centennial Classic jersey was up for auction, and on Sunday it sold for an absurd amount to say the least.
The fact that the jersey sold for $11,400 dollars is absurd, especially when you compare it to some of the more popular jerseys that have been auctioned off recently.
For example, John Scott's game-worn 2016 All-Star game jersey sold for $7,020 last year, and Jaromir Jagr's game-worn 2016 All-Star game jersey sold for just $3,650.
While the legend of Matthews will only grow from this point on, Jagr has cemented his place in NHL history while Scott was the most polarizing player in hockey for one weekend.
If you aren't impressed with those comparisons, though, here's a crazy one. Back in August, Alexander Ovechkin's jersey from his first NHL game which was worn only during warmups sold for just $2,940 more than the Matthews jersey.
It's safe to say Matthews has made quite an impression hockey fans and the price of any memorabilia associated with him will only go up as his career goes on.
(H/T: NHL Auctions and /r/hockey)
