The pressure is mounting on Auston Matthews as a defining season begins for the Maple Leafs

Auston Matthews carries more weight into training camp than anyone else on the Toronto Maple Leafs this fall.

He finished last season with 53 points in 60 games, a real dropoff from the level of play that made him one of the league's most feared scorers.

Toronto's season fell apart around him too. The Maple Leafs closed the year on a seven-game losing streak and finished 28th overall with a -46 goal differential.

His year ended early too. A hit from Radko Gudas led to MCL knee surgery and a 12-week recovery that closed out his season.

"This was a tough year. It was a frustrating year," Matthews said at locker cleanout in April, adding the group fell short of its own expectations.

Down the stretch, the numbers backed up the frustration. His last 10 games produced just one goal, five assists and a -8 rating.

None of that comes cheap. Matthews carries a $13,250,000 cap hit this season, the second-highest number in the entire NHL.

A new coach and a $13.25 million price tag raise the stakes

Jim Hiller takes over behind the bench after Toronto hired him this June, stepping into a room that just lived through one of its worst seasons in years.

He inherits some real help. Darren Raddysh joins the back end fresh off a 70-point season and a plus-21 rating, easily his best year in the league.

Sergei Bobrovsky anchors a retooled crease after posting an .876 save percentage last season behind a defense that allowed 299 goals against.

Adding those names looks good on paper. But it means nothing if Matthews can't find another gear, and that part is squarely on him.

Matthews is in the position of a closer who just blew Game 7. Fans remember the meltdown before they remember the decade of brilliance that came before it.

Can Matthews turn things around fast enough to justify Toronto's investment in him? The city's patience already looks thin.

Training camp will tell us who's rusty and who's ready. Whether Matthews looks like the player Toronto is paying for won't be clear until games start counting.