It's now confirmed for Jim Hiller and Auston Matthews: The plan has changed for the superstar captain

Auston Matthews is about to look different under Toronto Maple Leafs coach Jim Hiller, and the numbers explain why.

Matthews closed the season with 27 goals and 26 assists for 53 points in 60 games, a modest return for a player who's carried this franchise for years.

His last 10 games told an even rougher story. One goal, five assists, a minus-8 rating over that stretch.

Heading into next season, Hiller wants that to change. Insider Chris Johnston reported this week that Matthews' role is forecasted to shift under the new bench boss.

"I forecast that Jim Hiller is going to probably change his usage a little bit and find opportunities where Auston's offensive gifts maybe are accentuated more than was the case under Craig Berube," Johnston said, via OverDrive1050.

That's a pointed line. Berube ran a defense-first system in Toronto, and Matthews' offensive numbers took a hit for it.

Johnston went further, tying the shift directly to special teams. "Leafs power play improves. All these things, I think, lead you back to a world where he's among the better offensive players in the game, as he has been multiple seasons in the past."

Leafs finished dead last in their division

The Maple Leafs need something to change. Toronto finished 32-36-14 for 78 points, good for 28th overall and 8th in the Atlantic.

A minus-46 goal differential and a seven-game losing streak to close things out. That's not a fluke, that's a full-season pattern.

Matthews still put up five power play goals and seven power play assists, proof the tools are there even when the system wasn't working around him.

Hiring Hiller was Toronto's answer to a Berube era that never got the most out of its best player. Whether a new voice actually fixes that is the real question, not the press conference optimism.

Freeing up a $13,250,000 cap hit center only matters if the results follow. Blaming the system is easy. Producing under a new one is harder.

Toronto fans have heard this kind of promise before. What happens when Matthews still isn't scoring in November will say a lot more than anything said in August.