Patrick Kane vs Auston Matthews

[x Tame Impala]

At retirement, I suspect Matthews will go down as the greatest American player ever.

By Leaf fans perhaps but Kane has a lot going for him.

-1300+ points, could retire with 1500 points if he has another 3 years of 70+ point hockey in him
-Calder, Hart, Ross, Pearson trophies
-3x Stanley Cup winner and 1 Smythe
-top 4 point and goal producer across two generations of players (Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin) and (McDavid and Draisaitl)

The guy has been consistently elite his entire career. It’s remarkable how well he’s produced and he spent much of his youth in a drastically lower scoring era. He elevated his game in the playoffs, was a dynamic scoring forward when his team needed him the most, and he did this while playing with 2nd/3rd liners for much of his career as well.

Kane was a phenom. Matthews is as well but he’s going to need more than 700 goals and a Hart trophy to pass Kane

 

[CokenoPepsi]

Prime Kane in this environment would be putting up seasons like we saw Mack and Kucherov just put up.

Thing is Kane is sort of unlucky his trophy case isn't larger.

Was leading the league in scoring in 14-15 playing with Richards and Versteeg before injury, was top 5 in scoring in the lockout year in the much harder West.

Should have got the Conn Smythe in 2010

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Main thing going for Kane that he has been better in playoffs thus far.

 

[KevinRedkey]

What’s your reasoning for this? Matthews has a lot of ground to cover for this to be close at the moment. Kane is an absurdly accomplished player

His reasoning is he's a fan of the Maple Leafs.

 

[JaegerDice]

I think at this point it's clear that Kane has that competitive drive in him that Matthews just doesn't.

Matthews is better defensively and a better shooter, but Kane just battles harder when every inch is contested while Matthews has flashes of greatness before inevitably fading into the background.

Prime Kane in this environment would be putting up seasons like we saw Mack and Kucherov just put up.

Thing is Kane is sort of unlucky his trophy case isn't larger.

Was leading the league in scoring in 14-15 playing with Richards and Versteeg before injury, was top 5 in scoring in the lockout year in the much harder West.

Should have got the Conn Smythe in 2010

Even if you believe he deserved the Conn Smythe in 2010, he certainly didn't deserve the Conn Smythe in 2013, so if everybody got what they 'deserved' that's a wash as far as his trophy case.

It's tough to argue Kane was unlucky, he was the 2nd last addition to a modern dynasty, and only wound up there instead of Philly by virtue of lottery ball bounces.

He's been remarkably healthy for his career. Matthews has already missed more games and played more games injured than Kane.

 

[WarriorofTime]

His reasoning is he's a fan of the Maple Leafs.

It's what we call the "Mats Sundin Rule", where because a player does good stuff for the Leafs, that automatically boosts their standing in terms of league stature because the Leafs are the most followed/talked about team. Every Leaf fan intuitively believes this. When Kane was in his prime and Kessel played for the Leafs, Leaf fans routinely said Kessel and Kane were equals, which didn't make sense and nobody believes now. But Kessel was on the Leafs, so every point or goal he scores "means more".

 

[Puckstuff]

Leaf fan saying Patrick Kane, AINEC. Winning matters.

 

[ColbyChaos]

If Matthews never wins a Cup it's Kane. No one is going to care about the exciting games Matthews provides in December. But Matthews has a lot of runway left. I doubt him as much as anyone but It would take an astounding amount of mental weakness for Matthews never figure it out in the playoffs.

Gonna take more than just one cup lol

3 cups

Multiple conference finals

Conn smythe

Series clinching goals in the cup finals

Series clinching goals in the conference finals

Series clinching goals in round 2

Matthews can’t even get out of round 1

 

[Rob Brown]

By Leaf fans perhaps but Kane has a lot going for him.

-1300+ points, could retire with 1500 points if he has another 3 years of 70+ point hockey in him
-Calder, Hart, Ross, Pearson trophies
-3x Stanley Cup winner and 1 Smythe
-top 4 point and goal producer across two generations of players (Crosby, Malkin, Ovechkin) and (McDavid and Draisaitl)

The guy has been consistently elite his entire career. It’s remarkable how well he’s produced and he spent much of his youth in a drastically lower scoring era. He elevated his game in the playoffs, was a dynamic scoring forward when his team needed him the most, and he did this while playing with 2nd/3rd liners for much of his career as well.

Kane was a phenom. Matthews is as well but he’s going to need more than 700 goals and a Hart trophy to pass Kane

Totally agree with this but worth adding that he does have a Hart. From an individual awards perspective Matthews is already ahead of him (IMO anyway), but the playoff success is hard for anyone to beat.

Main thing going for Kane that he has been better in playoffs thus far.

Agreed.

Matthews can’t even get out of round 1

His career isn't over.

 

[Montreal Shadow]

At retirement, I suspect Matthews will go down as the greatest American player ever.

Not with those postseason results.

 

[Felidae]

It's easier to paint him as selfish than as a person who would obviously like to hit a goal that anybody would like to hit.

Exactly.

Let's stop pretending like these superstar players dont care about individual accomplishments. I highly doubt they got to where they are without any desire to be the best.

 

[ColbyChaos]

It's easier to paint him as selfish than as a person who would obviously like to hit a goal that anybody would like to hit.

It’s a lot easier to paint him as selfish by bringing up his contract shenanigans that prevents his team from using any cap savings to get a better dman.

Dude demands the highest possible aav every 3-4 years and will be pounding the table for 3 years 18 million per 4 years from now

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

It’s a lot easier to paint him as selfish by bringing up his contract shenanigans that prevents his team from using any cap savings to get a better dman.

Dude demands the highest possible aav every 3-4 years and will be pounding the table for 3 years 18 million per 4 years from now

Virtually every player does this. It's not unique to him.

 

[wetcoast]

Kane is the leading scorer of the 2010s.

That's great trivia much like Peter Stastny is the second best scorer of the 80s.

We will have to see how it all shakes out but assuming any sort of good health AM is going to end up with the better regular season resume.

People are putting alot of stock in the playoffs here and yes Kane has a distinct advantage but people are forgetting or overlooking that Kane had guys like Keith, Toews and excellent secondary players on those 3 SC runs.

 

[Apotheosis]

Leafs fan saying Kane. Honestly, nobody cares about regular season stat padding. Kane is good in the playoffs, Matthews has never shown a second gear.

 

[Arizonan God]

Leafs fan voting for Kane.

Playoff success (not just team success, but individually as well) is the difference maker.

 

[WarriorofTime]

That's great trivia

That is rather dismissive considering the post I replied to was indicating Kane's only accomplishments were postseason based (which you did again in third paragraph). I'm not sure why you think leading an entire decade in scoring isn't something worth noting, and in your eyes "trivia". It would seem to suggest regular season resume is closer than would appear if you only look at raw point totals (ignoring league scoring affects). Only Crosby and Malkin come in at higher PPG amongst anyone in the top 40 in decade scoring and they of course DID play in every season that decade, but were injured for portions while Kane stayed more healthy.

 

[I am not exposed]

Matthews is the better player.

Swap Kane for Matthews and do you think the Leafs are getting further with Kane in their lineup instead of Matthews!

 

[DitchMarner]

Matthews is the better player.

Swap Kane for Matthews and do you think the Leafs are getting further with Kane in their lineup instead of Matthews!

It's definitely possible. Kane is a game-breaker in the playoffs. They've lost so many series where a big performance from a star player could have been the difference. I think Kane would at least have finished off Montreal for instance.

It's kind of a tough comparison to make, though. Matthews' overall play in the playoffs hasn't been bad. His main problem has been a lack of production. If you take him out, who plays in his position?

I do think his performance is more replaceable than clutch scoring, however. I have certainly come to realize the importance of timely scoring in the playoffs...

 

[SHANNYPLAN]

AM34 if he wins. Until then, Patty Kane.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

That's great trivia much like Peter Stastny is the second best scorer of the 80s.

We will have to see how it all shakes out but assuming any sort of good health AM is going to end up with the better regular season resume.

People are putting alot of stock in the playoffs here and yes Kane has a distinct advantage but people are forgetting or overlooking that Kane had guys like Keith, Toews and excellent secondary players on those 3 SC runs.

Will he? Sure he off to a great start but Kane could literally finish his career top 10 in scoring nothing to sneeze at.

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

Matthews is the better player.

Swap Kane for Matthews and do you think the Leafs are getting further with Kane in their lineup instead of Matthews!

Honestly, yes, I do.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

Matthews is the better player.

Swap Kane for Matthews and do you think the Leafs are getting further with Kane in their lineup instead of Matthews!

Yes, a prime Kane isn't choking the series against the Jackets or Habs.

Probably win one of the series against the Bruins and Lightning too.

Some players just have an extra gear to keep going when the games get tougher, Kane has it... It appears Matthews does not

 

[authentic]

It's definitely possible. Kane is a game-breaker in the playoffs. They've lost so many series where a big performance from a star player could have been the difference. I think Kane would at least have finished off Montreal for instance.

It's kind of a tough comparison to make, though. Matthews' overall play in the playoffs hasn't been bad. His main problem has been a lack of production. If you take him out, who plays in his position?

I do think his performance is more replaceable than clutch scoring, however. I have certainly come to realize the importance of timely scoring in the playoffs...

I think people tend to ignore the defensive impact Matthews has had. All he needs is his health going forward in the playoffs and this comparison will favour Matthews in 3-5 seasons.

 

[Duke749]

Prime Kane in this environment would be putting up seasons like we saw Mack and Kucherov just put up.

Thing is Kane is sort of unlucky his trophy case isn't larger.

Was leading the league in scoring in 14-15 playing with Richards and Versteeg before injury, was top 5 in scoring in the lockout year in the much harder West.

Should have got the Conn Smythe in 2010

Kane would be feasting with how scoring is the last couple of years. I think prime Kane is better than prime Kucherov. Not by much obviously. It’s definitely up for debate.

Isn’t Kane also the only player to score three OT series winning goals? Talk about clutch.