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Auston Matthews Discussion Thread

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IPS said:
The main board is in clinical denial at how insane Matthews has become defenively.

They didn't realize that Mike Babcock was their best friend.
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To be fair, Babs more than once called out Matthews' "desire" to be a two way player and mentioned things he needed to work on in order to be one of the league's best players.

You can hate Babs all you want but he did put a significant amount of development time in with Matthews in addition to Matthews' own off-season coaching and skills development team. He's just not around to reap the benefits of the investment.
 
IPS said:
The main board is in clinical denial at how insane Matthews has become defenively.

They didn't realize that Mike Babcock was their best friend.
Click to expand...

They willy never admit it on the mainboard. It's the last little thing they can hold on to, it helps them sleep at night to think of Matthew's as a deeply flawed player.
 
IPS said:
The main board is in clinical denial at how insane Matthews has become defenively.

They didn't realize that Mike Babcock was their best friend.
Click to expand...
One person is trying to discredit Matthews saying he had an own goal when Tkachuk scored as to why he doesn't deserve the Selke. Besides it being a stupid comment to discredit Matthews how is that an own goal if Tkachuk is still getting credit for it?
 
Phion Keneuf said:
Top 3 player in the league. Not debatable.
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It's pretty debatable, but Matthews is definitely deserving of being one of the smartest goal scorers in the league.

Beats goalies clean like prime Ovechkin, no traffic needed. Always in a good position, elite awareness offensively.

Guys like Ovechkin/Matthews/Pastrnak don't get shutdown for long because their shots are too powerful and "smart".

Matthews is always picking spots, lately he's been moving goalies and going five hole where other players would routinely shoot into the chest or miss the net


He's not a top 3 player yet, but he's in the group of players right after. Top 3 goal scorer easily. Which is just as important considering he's our #1c. Makes the game easier for anyone else on his line
 
When does Matthews get the C?

We all knew he was going to originally get it but then made some stupid decisions.

This is Matthews team, he makes them run, he's our best player, and really looks like a leader on ice. JT isn't anywhere near him.

He deserves it. He's continued to develop his game every year and appears to be at an even higher level this year. Give him the C, we all know he's the true captain.
 
Raym11 said:
It's pretty debatable, but Matthews is definitely deserving of being one of the smartest goal scorers in the league.

Beats goalies clean like prime Ovechkin, no traffic needed. Always in a good position, elite awareness offensively.

Guys like Ovechkin/Matthews/Pastrnak don't get shutdown for long because their shots are too powerful and "smart".

Matthews is always picking spots, lately he's been moving goalies and going five hole where other players would routinely shoot into the chest or miss the net


He's not a top 3 player yet, but he's in the group of players right after. Top 3 goal scorer easily. Which is just as important considering he's our #1c. Makes the game easier for anyone else on his line
Click to expand...

He's a top 1 player.
 
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zeke said:
He's a top 1 player.
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That's debatable. But that's at least a more interesting debate than whether or not he's top 3 which is crystal clear, at least to me.

I've been watching hockey for about 50 years now and I've never seen anyone quite like him. He's playing at such a high level right now that he's just a treat to watch in a way that very few players have been that I've seen in my lifetime.
 
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Raym11 said:
It's pretty debatable, but Matthews is definitely deserving of being one of the smartest goal scorers in the league.

Beats goalies clean like prime Ovechkin, no traffic needed. Always in a good position, elite awareness offensively.

Guys like Ovechkin/Matthews/Pastrnak don't get shutdown for long because their shots are too powerful and "smart".

Matthews is always picking spots, lately he's been moving goalies and going five hole where other players would routinely shoot into the chest or miss the net


He's not a top 3 player yet, but he's in the group of players right after. Top 3 goal scorer easily. Which is just as important considering he's our #1c. Makes the game easier for anyone else on his line
Click to expand...

He’s a top-3 player right now. It’s hard to definitively distinguish a top-3, but right now he’s a top-3 player in the NHL.
 
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7even said:
I think he's a terrific player, probably will go down as the best Leaf ever. But you see it over and over again where he scores not off the back of a really flashy move, not because he cruises around defenders wide, not because he bowls people over, but because he puts himself into a space and simply executes on very small margins.

If I could name one Matthews goal emblematic of what I'm getting at, I think of his OT winner in the centennial classic. Cuts to the net, controls the puck off the board with literally the most economy of motion possible, and backhands it into a space players frankly do not score on. There's no real flash on that goal, nobody got embarrassed, it's just him outplaying the Wings and executing flawlessly a chance very few players can actually execute on. It's like he's got, elite fundamentals. That's what I think is most impressive about him.
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Agreed, his economy of movement, appreciation of off-the-puck shooting lanes and integration of his skillset to the context of a hockey game is what makes his so good. While his shot is obviously highlight reel, most of his game is just applying his skills and smarts to in-game situations. He's even started using stick lifts proactively this year, which was a Datsyukian trademark. And last night when he seamlessly caught a pass in his skates and directed to his stick all in one motion was very reminiscent of Crosby. It's these little idiosyncratic plays that define a player.
 
Matty has got more consistent this year so far ... only can remember 1 game where he went away like Vesey so far ... his 2 way game has improved ... his scoring is up ... his faceoffs are better ... his defensive game has improved ... his physical game has improved ... to me it is him or MAC right now ... McJesus will always be best pure scorer and playmaker but he does not bring enough for me in every other aspects of game
 
Last night was the 17th goal in Matthews career he's scored vs Ottawa in just 19 games played against them.

The next four teams he's scored the most goals against is Detroit with 12 goals in 14 games, Montreal with 12 goals in 17 games, Buffalo with 11 goals in 15 games, and Vancouver with 10 goals in 11 games.

 
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