Auston Matthews ranks 10th on NHL.com Top 16 Forwards for the 2020-21 Season

[hotpaws]

i'd have him in 6th to 8th range , overall not a bad list

 

[PuckMagi]

I'd rank him #3... but I'm a big fan!

 

[Mess]

Kucherov is having hip surgery instead of playing this Covid season after winning the Cup in 2020, so Matthews is guaranteed to finish ahead of him.

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov to have surgery, out for regular season

Tampa Bay Lightning star winger Nikita Kucherov is undergoing hip surgery next week and will miss the entire regular season, general manager Julien BriseBrois announced Wednesday.

Though Kucherov's designation to long-term injury reserve will give initial relief to cap-strapped Tampa Bay

Bolts' Kucherov to have surgery, out for season

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

Matthews put up 47 goals as a center while being better defensively than most of these guys. He's easily #3 on this list for me.

 

[TMLisSRYinGerman]

Good list, Pasta won the rocket so he its a bit disrespectful to say he won't repeat or is the worst of the 3. Sure they help him but he is still a top offensive player. Marner could easily be on the list too, but Petterson will be a stud (actually already is). I would take Petterson ahead of Marner any day of the week (only IMO tough).
Matthews could rank everywhere between 5 and 10, it's very close in that range - I think him becoming invisible in a lot of games makes a good reason for him not being ranked any higher. No3 as some of you say is laughable... He is never ahead of Sid, McDavid, Drai or MacKinnon! And I am a big fan of 34, he is my favorite leaf!

 

[CincoHolio]

Kane and Pastrnak are not better than Matthews. Panarin had a better year but he’s not better either. Matthews is also definitively ahead of Ovie at this point of his career. IMO he’s 5 or 6.

100% all of this. Correct answer right here.

 

[Notsince67]

Hey guys let's justify this Marner contract for the 10000x.

He's not a top 20 player in the league and likely not even the 2nd best player in his own team. Get over it and move on.

Get over yourself already and get a clue.

 

[Richardbro]

I would put Matthews 8th and put Crosby and Kane behind him. I am well aware of their legacy and abilities but Matthews is a better player right now given their age and past 2 seasons compared to Matthews.

 

[Notsince67]

I would put Matthews 8th and put Crosby and Kane behind him. I am well aware of their legacy and abilities but Matthews is a better player right now given their age and past 2 seasons compared to Matthews.

I couldnt care less about where Matthews is/was ranked. He a leaf and we know that when he is on, he will make it a bad night for other teams in the league. There is only one player in the world i would theoretically consider for him and even he needs can be beaten on given nights.

 

[TimeZone]

I'll take Matthews over Pasta, Leon and Kane without hesitation.

 

[Stephen]

Kane and Pastrnak are not better than Matthews. Panarin had a better year but he’s not better either. Matthews is also definitively ahead of Ovie at this point of his career. IMO he’s 5 or 6.

Kane is a little older now and you probably wouldn't take a 5'10" 32 year old winger over a 6'3" center entering his prime, but I think you still give the nod to the future Hall of Famer at this moment and let Matthews surpass him over the course of the season.

 

[Stephen]

Like a lot of people in this thread, I'm also not super high on Leon Draisaitl for some reason (relative to this list and Auston Matthews). I wouldn't accuse him of being a product of McDavid at all, because he's obviously an elite standalone player in his own right. But whenever I watch him play, I keep thinking Auston Matthews has a much higher skill level, and if he improves his ability to play a power game and be "big" positionally like a Draisaitl you'll actually see a more dominant player.

 

[The Iceman]

And Pasta expected to miss a chunk of games to start the season so he logically should slide behind Matthews.

 

[ULF_55]

Okay my top 25 ... based on points values ...
Goal = 1.25
Assists = 1

	Player	Games Played	Goals	G Value	Assists	Points	Points Value	P/GP	P/PG Value
1	Leon Draisaitl	71	43	53.75	67	110	120.75	1.55	1.70
2	Connor McDavid	64	34	42.5	63	97	105.5	1.52	1.65
3	David Pastrnak	70	48	60	47	95	107	1.36	1.53
4	Mika Zibanejad	57	41	51.25	34	75	85.25	1.32	1.50
5	Artemi Panarin	69	32	40	63	95	103	1.38	1.49
6	Nathan MacKinnon	69	35	43.75	58	93	101.75	1.35	1.47
7	Evgeni Malkin	55	25	31.25	49	74	80.25	1.35	1.46
8	Nikita Kucherov	68	33	41.25	52	85	93.25	1.25	1.37
9	Brad Marchand	70	28	35	59	87	94	1.24	1.34
10	Patrick Kane	70	33	41.25	51	84	92.25	1.2	1.32
11	Auston Matthews	70	47	58.75	33	80	91.75	1.14	1.31
12	Steven Stamkos	57	29	36.25	37	66	73.25	1.16	1.29
13	Jack Eichel	68	36	45	42	78	87	1.15	1.28
14	Sidney Crosby	41	16	20	31	47	51	1.15	1.24
15	Jake Guentzel	39	20	25	23	43	48	1.1	1.23
16	Jonathan Huberdeau	69	23	28.75	55	78	83.75	1.13	1.21
17	Mitchell Marner	59	16	20	51	67	71	1.14	1.20
18	Kyle Connor	71	38	47.5	35	73	82.5	1.03	1.16
19	Alex Ovechkin	68	48	60	19	67	79	0.99	1.16
20	John Carlson	69	15	18.75	60	75	78.75	1.09	1.14
21	J.T. Miller	69	27	33.75	45	72	78.75	1.04	1.14
22	Bryan Rust	55	27	33.75	29	56	62.75	1.02	1.14
23	Mark Scheifele	71	29	36.25	44	73	80.25	1.03	1.13
24	Sebastian Aho	68	38	47.5	28	66	75.5	0.97	1.11

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[LeafsNation75]

I couldnt care less about where Matthews is/was ranked. He a leaf and we know that when he is on, he will make it a bad night for other teams in the league. There is only one player in the world i would theoretically consider for him and even he needs can be beaten on given nights.

It's too bad Matthews wasn't ranked in the top 5 because when that happens it's fun watching the Leafs haters go crazy. For example going into the 2017-18 season on the TSN top 50 players list they ranked Matthews #10 and those people thought no way should he be ranked that high coming off only 69 points as a rookie, even though they discounted his 40 goals and finishing T-2 in that category.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Like a lot of people in this thread, I'm also not super high on Leon Draisaitl for some reason (relative to this list and Auston Matthews). I wouldn't accuse him of being a product of McDavid at all, because he's obviously an elite standalone player in his own right. But whenever I watch him play, I keep thinking Auston Matthews has a much higher skill level, and if he improves his ability to play a power game and be "big" positionally like a Draisaitl you'll actually see a more dominant player.

At one point in his career I think it was fair to say that Draisaitl was a product of McDavid.

In the 2015-16 season Draisaitl only had 19 goals, 32 assists and 51 points. Plus that was the same year McDavid got injured and only played 45 games.

However the next season with McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line together is when his stats went up to 29 goals, 48 goals, and 77 points.

 

[hamzarocks]

At one point in his career I think it was fair to say that Draisaitl was a product of McDavid.

In the 2015-16 season Draisaitl only had 19 goals, 32 assists and 51 points. Plus that was the same year McDavid got injured and only played 45 games.

However the next season with McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line together is when his stats went up to 29 goals, 48 goals, and 77 points.

Ya draisaitl really relied on McDavid till 2018. 2017 and 2018 he was the passenger on his line. Matthews was comfortably better than him over those two seasons (his D+1 and D+2 vs D+3 and D+4 for Drai)

The last 2 years he has emerged as a all world offensive talent who can generate prime chances with guys like RNH and Yamamoto. He was in his D+5 and D+6 years when he put 105 and 128 point paces.

Now I'm not expecting 128 pace from AM34 but I can see him being a 105ish point solid 2 way center for the next two seasons while not needing to be as dependent on pp production. I can see matthews closing the gap in on ice value between the two players this year as Drai prob falls to a 95-110 point player while Matthews is a 95-105 point player

 

[LeafsNation75]

Ya draisaitl really relied on McDavid till 2018. 2017 and 2018 he was the passenger on his line. Matthews was comfortably better than him over those two seasons (his D+1 and D+2 vs D+3 and D+4 for Drai)

The last 2 years he has emerged as a all world offensive talent who can generate prime chances with guys like RNH and Yamamoto. He was in his D+5 and D+6 years when he put 105 and 128 point paces.

Now I'm not expecting 128 pace from AM34 but I can see him being a 105ish point solid 2 way center for the next two seasons while not needing to be as dependent on pp production. I can see matthews closing the gap in on ice value between the two players this year as Drai prob falls to a 95-110 point player while Matthews is a 95-105 point player

Will Matthews put up more points playing with Marner who we already know gets a lot of assists himself so that will help with Matthews goal scoring or is he better with Nylander?

 

[hamzarocks]

Will Matthews put up more points playing with Marner who we already know gets a lot of assists himself so that will help with Matthews goal scoring or is he better with Nylander?

I'm expecting marner to have a breakout goal scoring wise. He seems to be a bit more mature and understands fancy dangles and highlight passes are great but they wont always be available. I think marner will have improve his shot quality and selection as well as going to the front of the net more allowing for AM34 to have offensive touches and chances to find him using his play making skills

Nylander and Matthews to me was not that great of a pairing for boths personal production. Nylander would hold the puck to long at times and was simply looking to pass with him playing more along the perimeter. With JT they both can carry the puck in and both know where to be parked in order to get a quality pass from their linemate. Nylander and JT is a pairing I'd keep for the year barring either having a poor stretch.

I cam see marner being a 30-35 goal scorer and 70-75 assist guy at his peak with Matthews getting 55-60 goals and 45-50 assists playing with marner.

I wonder how the lines go if Amirov and Robertson make the team in 2021-2022. A top 6 of

Robertson/Amirov-Matthews-
Amirov/Robertson-Tavares-Nylander

On paper is insane and should be the best top 6 in the league

 

[Menzinger]

Its fair company to be in. If I were to nitpick l, but I'd slide him ahead of a few players there, especially some.of.the wingers like Kane/Panarin and while a guy like Pasta is undeniably a phenomenal player, its easier to be a goal scoring winger than centre. As Bergeron continues to show more wear and tear due to age Pasta will be expected to contribute more beyond his shot

 

[LeafsNation75]

I'm expecting marner to have a breakout goal scoring wise. He seems to be a bit more mature and understands fancy dangles and highlight passes are great but they wont always be available. I think marner will have improve his shot quality and selection as well as going to the front of the net more allowing for AM34 to have offensive touches and chances to find him using his play making skills

Nylander and Matthews to me was not that great of a pairing for boths personal production. Nylander would hold the puck to long at times and was simply looking to pass with him playing more along the perimeter. With JT they both can carry the puck in and both know where to be parked in order to get a quality pass from their linemate. Nylander and JT is a pairing I'd keep for the year barring either having a poor stretch.

I cam see marner being a 30-35 goal scorer and 70-75 assist guy at his peak with Matthews getting 55-60 goals and 45-50 assists playing with marner.

I wonder how the lines go if Amirov and Robertson make the team in 2021-2022. A top 6 of

Robertson/Amirov-Matthews-
Amirov/Robertson-Tavares-Nylander

On paper is insane and should be the best top 6 in the league

If Marner did have a breakout season goal scoring wise and was on a 5v5 line with Matthews, won't that take away some the goals Matthews might have got himself?

Although that could also mean Matthews gets more assists which still count towards his total points, so maybe it's not as bad as that might sound.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Its fair company to be in. If I were to nitpick l, but I'd slide him ahead of a few players there, especially some.of.the wingers like Kane/Panarin and while a guy like Pasta is undeniably a phenomenal player, its easier to be a goal scoring winger than centre. As Bergeron continues to show more wear and tear due to age Pasta will be expected to contribute more beyond his shot

I wonder if Kane was ranked ahead of Matthews due to what he's done his whole career, even though Matthews was a lot better during the 2019-20 season.

As for Panarin I know he had more total points and was a Hart Trophy finalist last season. However does that mean he deserves to be ranked ahead of Matthews?

 

[Menzinger]

I wonder if Kane was ranked ahead of Matthews due to what he's done his whole career, even though Matthews was a lot better during the 2019-20 season.

As for Panarin I know he had more total points and was a Hart Trophy finalist last season. However does that mean he deserves to be ranked ahead of Matthews?

I think reputation and history definitely shapes peoples opinions when they make these lists.

Kane has a fantastic career but there's no way at 32 years old he will be better than Matthews

 

[LeafsNation75]

I think reputation and history definitely shapes peoples opinions when they make these lists.

Kane has a fantastic career but there's no way at 32 years old he will be better than Matthews

If reputation and history shapes peoples opinions when they make these lists, how did Pettersson rank 16th instead of Marner? Yes I know he won the Calder Trophy in the 2018-19 season, however he only had 66 points. That same year Marner had 94 points.

 

[notDatsyuk]

I think, from what we have seen so far, that 8 to 10 is reasonable.

The potential for top three is there, in my opinion, but hasn't been realized yet. I wouldn't be surprised to see him there next year.