NHL.com released it’s list of top jerseys sales for the regular season and the Toronto Maple Leafs top rookie hit number four in jersey sales this year.

Most of us in Ontario know that the Maple Leafs being bad for the past decade plus has led to an increase in small children becoming Penguins and Blackhawks fans. Recency bias is alive and well in children, but the tide is turning.

More kids are wearing Leafs gear as the season went along, and this reflects in the jersey sales from NHL.com. Part of this is probably based off pre-orders for the new jersey, but it shows a bigger picture.

This could be a sign of the Maple Leafs popularity across the continent. They didn’t give location details for buyers, but most people in the Maple Leafs territory will buy merchandise from a local store, Sportchek, or Real Sports. Why pay shipping when the stuff is right there for you to pick up and try on yourself?

The fact that more Auston Matthews jerseys are being ordered online, this speaks to me that more Leafs fans outside of Ontario are buying Leafs gear once again, or kids are getting into the best blue & white team in the NHL.

Congrats to Auston Matthews. May he take his rightful place on top of the jersey selling throne next season.