Auston Matthews is popular.
Really, really popular.
How popular, you ask?
This popular:
Since going on sale on Thursday, Auston Matthews has best selling jersey in the NHL, according to Fanatics. pic.twitter.com/bjaMD5uJGC
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) October 16, 2016
Matthews’ jersey couldn’t go on sale officially until he made the NHL, which happened in historic fashion Wednesday night. Long-touted as the surefire first overall pick of the 2016 draft, plenty of teams were eager to draft the kid who broke tradition to play his draft year in Switzerland.
The Toronto Maple Leafs got him. And so far, he’s living up to the hype; maybe even generating a little more than expected.
It’s not surprising to see his jersey currently leading as the top-selling in the NHL, though. For one thing, Toronto is a massive market. For another thing, hope sells, and who better to represent it than Matthews? Also, nobody has ever scored four goals in their first NHL game before, so that does its fair share to get people excited and have a ton of people find their new favourite.
Leafs had to quickly make hundreds of them for the team store after the four-goal game. https://t.co/Y3iEjgly8q
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) October 16, 2016
It’s all awesome. The Matthews era isn’t starting quietly in Toronto.