Player Discussion Auston Matthews (Captain Edition)

[LeafsFan89]

I remember a few seasons ago, Matthews came out of gate looking PISSED. Forget if it was preseason or regular season, but he was all over the ice, laying heavy hits. Then he just... stopped.

The shame is, he can look like McDavid, but it's like once every 10-20 games. I just don't understand. Take a year off to get surgery/rehab to come back like an animal for all I care.

 

[Larcos_Unal]

Has he ever been 110% in the playoffs?

Maybe physically, but he's never performed to his talent level in the playoffs. He's never gone McDavid/Draisaitl/McKinnon psycho mode...won't do it if he's hurt.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

I think he, and generations of his family, are going to be just fine regardless of the extra 4 years.

He and his will never want for anything. But seeing how calculating he is with his money, I could see it eating away at him if he’s forced to take a pay cut on his next contract due to constant injury issues. Whatever, hopefully that’s not the case and whatever’s ailing him right now can be solved somehow.

 

[IPS]

It's ok guys thankfully the PR crew told me the last time that flying to Germany was "nothing" and totally commonplace.

 

[Roo]

Hard to say because we don’t know what he’s actually dealing with, but if playing makes it worse you have to shut him down. I think we’ve all seen enough, and an AM34 at 60% isn’t worth playing in the regular season if it puts the playoffs at risk. We need him at 100%, but I wonder if that is even possible right now.

 

[Evilhomer]

Larry Bird....hands down

I think he's pretty close, just maybe not as explosive. Bird was, however, tough as hell.

 

[Evilhomer]

He and his will never want for anything. But seeing how calculating he is with his money, I could see it eating away at him if he’s forced to take a pay cut on his next contract due to constant injury issues. Whatever, hopefully that’s not the case and whatever’s ailing him right now can be solved somehow.

What's interesting is that for people speculating a back injury (which I think is pretty reasonable to speculate), it clearly didn't bother him much in the regular season last year.

 

[fahad203]

Sit him until mid-January. There's a long stretch of days without games coming up and the team's record without him is pretty incredible.
We don't need him at 70% now, we need him at 110% in the playoffs.

Better yet, pull a Tampa and Kuch

Sit him for entire year and being him up for playoffs. Use that money to bring another star player

 

[HellasLEAF]

I remember a few seasons ago, Matthews came out of gate looking PISSED. Forget if it was preseason or regular season, but he was all over the ice, laying heavy hits. Then he just... stopped.

The shame is, he can look like McDavid, but it's like once every 10-20 games. I just don't understand. Take a year off to get surgery/rehab to come back like an animal for all I care.

So the problem for you is that he's not McDavid. Ok then. I think you will be disappointed often then because nobody on this planet is..

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

Matthews is one of my favourite Leafs players of all time so I'm really hoping it isn't a back injury.

If it is they should trade him now while they can still get a ton for him. Back injuries are basically unfixable. You only need to look at a guy like Vilardi to realize the impact they have on a career.

Or Nathan Horton.

 

[weems]

What's interesting is that for people speculating a back injury (which I think is pretty reasonable to speculate), it clearly didn't bother him much in the regular season last year.

Wasn't there speculation that he hurt his back against DET right at the end of the season?

He got clipped by Nylander on a play and went flying into the boards.

 

[Matthews4Calder]

Maybe physically, but he's never performed to his talent level in the playoffs. He's never gone McDavid/Draisaitl/McKinnon psycho mode...won't do it if he's hurt.

I personally don't think you'll ever see that because of his demeanour. Got no toughness grit in his game. 3 mentioned above have that quality. For me he takes too many nights off for a player of his calibre and salary and I'm not just looking at this year with an apparent injury. He would be an even better player if he had a bit of nastiness. I think some teams sense that and like the hit against Buffalo the other night teams know he rarely fights back.

 

[HellasLEAF]

Matthews has the innate ability to be second best to McDavid in the game as was the hype when they came into the league one after another.

Everyone is 2nd best to McJesus. I ask that Leaf fans console themselves with this. Our guy is pretty good too but he's not McDavid skating like that is once in a generation.

But as I’m cheering hard for him to hit these levels year after year, there’s something missing in the wiring where he’s lost positioning to guys like Mackinnon and Draisaitl and Kucherov.

??? Among the top players in the world yes. Not sure what you mean exactly here. But then again that's nothing new lol.

He’s having a great career as it is, but not quite hitting the level he’s capable of.

He literally just hit 69 goals the most recent season prior. He just set a high bar, a high level. He needs to follow this up with what. 75 goals? Uhh great. A Stanley Cup? Now we are talking. He dominated the reg season the next closest was 12 goals behind not even close. It's going to be a down year statistically for him due injury many of the greats have gone through this. Matthews, and the rest of the core 4, know very well how irrelevant the reg season is at this point for TML as it's been drilled into them that they won't be judged until the playoffs. I think if you ask Matthews to prioritize 75 goals this season or winning the cup we can hazard a guess what his priority is.

Also don’t know what the nature of his injury is, but could it have been handled differently in the offseason?

Why do you assume both Matthews himself, Leaf management and their whole team are inept and didn't handle it correctly. We simply aren't in the know on these matters and there are fine lines that dictate these decisions.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

What's interesting is that for people speculating a back injury (which I think is pretty reasonable to speculate), it clearly didn't bother him much in the regular season last year.

Think it was that late season game against Detroit where he fell against the boards that did it. Didn't look as dominant afterwards and even missed playoff games because of it. Clearly didn't rehab it right over the summer so now we're here.

 

[TMLAM34]

People saying he should be ruled out of the 4 nations tournament know that isn’t until mid February right? We don’t know the severity of the injury yet. Hopefully its nothing too serious and he can return well beyond the month of February.

 

[Confucius]

Matthews is one of my favourite Leafs players of all time so I'm really hoping it isn't a back injury.

If it is they should trade him now while they can still get a ton for him. Back injuries are basically unfixable. You only need to look at a guy like Vilardi to realize the impact they have on a career.

Or Nathan Horton.

You’re working on the let’s rip someone off principle. We know anybody with a back injury is damaged, shhh nobody else knows this. Trade him now, it’s not like he has to pass a physical and get a medical diagnosis. Not a good philosophy.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

You’re working on the let’s rip someone off principle. We know anybody with a back injury is damaged, shhh nobody else knows this. Trade him now, it’s not like he has to pass a physical and get a medical diagnosis. Not a good philosophy.

I'm working on the "there's always hope" philosophy.

Some team out there would be willing to take the chance he fully recovers. Even with the full disclosure of all medical documents it's still at the start of his injury. Buffalo traded Eichel and he had a broken neck but that didn't stop Vegas from rolling the dice on him making a full recovery from experimental surgery.

Unless Matthews is paralyzed from the waist down I think someone still pays big right now.

 

[Evilhomer]

Think it was that late season game against Detroit where he fell against the boards that did it. Didn't look as dominant afterwards and even missed playoff games because of it. Clearly didn't rehab it right over the summer so now we're here.

Could be right. Back issues are a bitch. Pretty much never go away.

 

[Ports]

What's interesting is that for people speculating a back injury (which I think is pretty reasonable to speculate), it clearly didn't bother him much in the regular season last year.

Rumour has it they got hurt while he was chasing 70 goals at the end of last season which also caused him to miss a few playoff games. What’s really worrying is if it’s the same injury this season he didn’t get the treatment he needed during a full off season which wasn’t enough time to let it heal.

 

[Ports]

Matthews is one of my favourite Leafs players of all time so I'm really hoping it isn't a back injury.

If it is they should trade him now while they can still get a ton for him. Back injuries are basically unfixable. You only need to look at a guy like Vilardi to realize the impact they have on a career.

Or Nathan Horton.

1. He’s got a full NMC.
2. Way too early to make that call.
3. If the injury is career changing other teams won’t be willing to take a chance on him at his what he’s paid.

I personally don't think you'll ever see that because of his demeanour. Got no toughness grit in his game. 3 mentioned above have that quality. For me he takes too many nights off for a player of his calibre and salary and I'm not just looking at this year with an apparent injury. He would be an even better player if he had a bit of nastiness. I think some teams sense that and like the hit against Buffalo the other night teams know he rarely fights back.

He’s timid. No getting around that. Just skated away while Rielly was stepping in for him and throwing them with Thompson.

 

[Menzinger]

I'm working on the "there's always hope" philosophy.

Some team out there would be willing to take the chance he fully recovers. Even with the full disclosure of all medical documents it's still at the start of his injury. Buffalo traded Eichel and he had a broken neck but that didn't stop Vegas from rolling the dice on him making a full recovery from experimental surgery.

Unless Matthews is paralyzed from the waist down I think someone still pays big right now.

How did that trade work out for Buffalo?

 

[Ports]

I think its all mental with Matthews. His first game he is loose, no expectations, scores 4 goals. Then the fan base expects him to be the NEXT ONE, he goes into a scoring slump.

69 goals, and that next goal again becomes so hard and elusive. I feel the weight of expectations are like a burden for AM, like he is dragging a 45lb plate out there whenever all eyes and expectations are on him.

I know he wants it, he knows we want it, but the energy drawn from that at the back of your mind takes away from him naturally being who he is.

I AM 100% convinced he would be a different, BETTER, version of himself if there were no stats. If somehow he could just forget the points, the goals and just be someone no one expects anything from. Meditation? Yoga? Phil Jackson as an advisor? Sports therapy?


I am no pro athlete, best I did was 1st team at the university level. Wasn't hockey. I remember my best games where when I thought I was garbage, I was crap. All I could think about was previous coaches telling me you have to be in spot A when B happens, and you better bust ass to be there or else you are useless. All I wanted was to impress my teammates, because I wanted to show I belonged. When I thought like that, I had impressive games. Guys would come up to me after at the bar and say "Remember when you did this?" and describe plays I did, and I had no god damn recollection of what they were talking about. I was in some primal state, where my mind was not writing memories, I was just reacting, trying hard as hell not to be garbage. I would nod, pretending I remembered, but I had no clue what they were talking about. It's like every ounce of energy I had was in the moment and none was spared to admire or remember any of it. Those were my best games and those games made me one of the leaders of the team.... but then I started to think of myself as good and as a leader, and my performance wasn't as good. I needed to think I was garbage, I needed to think that I could be cut at any moment. I needed to tap into that primal fear of failure to play at the highest level.

I think pressure/nerves are a problem and Matthews has no FU in him and that’s what separates the winners from the losers most of the time.

 

[Evilhomer]

How did that trade work out for Buffalo?

The same way trading a guy like that usually works out for the team that trades him. Generally speaking, it's hard to win a trade when you are trading one of the best players in the game.