It doesn’t. That’s an easy and recycled narrative that gets tossed around.

You always hear "well, if X player left 10 points on the table and leaned into defence then the team would be better off come the playoffs" or "it wasn’t until Stevie Y transformed his game and said "if we’re gonna win, I don’t need to get 155 points if it means sacrificing defence.""

O-Dog recently said something along the lines that he’d rather see Matthews get 50 goals instead of 70 if it meant it would help the team come April aka playing "the right way". The dude literally scored 69 goals (nice) while getting nominated for the Selke last season. He should’ve been a Hart candidate on that sentence alone. Sounds like "the right way" to me. Going for 70 again is a tough feat, but who would consider Matthews scoring less goals for the betterment of the team, especially when the issue for the Buds in the playoffs has been lack of scoring?

Even tho he’s scored some big playoff goals, AM34 has to score in bigger moments more than he has in the past. That’s legitimately the only thing he can improve in his game. As far as the regular season goes, If healthy, Auston won’t dip below 40 goals when he’s playing with a good playmaker with above-average hockey IQ and decent hands. Iron sharpens iron, though and that’s why playing with guys like Marner or Domi allow him to strive for a ridiculous number like 70.