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C Auston Matthews (2016, 1st, TOR) VII

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93LEAFS said:
My guess is if they were willing to use them in that type of situation, they probably played on the PP together. Either way, as exciting as that NA line was, there have been much better collections of talent on one line before.
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I think they paired Lemieux and Gretzky (but not Hawerchuk), with Coffey on the point. It doesn't really matter who else they played, it would be hard to beat that talent.
 
Whileee said:
I think they paired Lemieux and Gretzky (but not Hawerchuk), with Coffey on the point. It doesn't really matter who else they played, it would be hard to beat that talent.
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Probably correct, either way. Pretty much any 3 other people on that team together with those 2 is the greatest collection of talent on the ice together.
 
93LEAFS said:
My guess is if they were willing to use them in that type of situation, they probably played on the PP together. Either way, as exciting as that NA line was, there have been much better collections of talent on one line before.
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I followed the tournament fairly closely, with particular interest in the Jets' Hawerchuk. Lemieux and Gretzky played together from time to time, but I think that was the first time they put Hawerchuk with them. They played with Coffey plenty. Mind-blowing talent on that team, and an outstanding tournament.
 
93LEAFS said:
Probably correct, either way. Pretty much any 3 other people on that team together with those 2 is the greatest collection of talent on the ice together.
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Agreed. Coffey and Bourque were really sensational players, too.
 
Whileee said:
Agreed. Coffey and Bourque were really sensational players, too.
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Yeah, plus they had Messier and Hawerchuk. If at any point they managed to get Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Bourque and Coffey on together you are talking 2 top 4 players, 2 top 20, and one of the greatest offensive defencemen of all time.

As for the NA line, I hope years later is spoken about in a high level of reverence. McDavid's line looks amazing on paper but really hasn't clicked yet. I'm starting to think they might separate him and Eichel, I don't think they mesh that well. Both seem a bit too puck dominant and are used to being the sole creators of their line. Gaudreau and Scheifele I think have been the most impressive non-Matthews players (not even going to attempt to be objective on that one) so far.

Really excited to see what Matthews can do in the actual tournament. So far I'm just really impressed he's managed to rightfully move up from the 13th forward to a guy getting top 6 minutes and consistent PP minutes. Similarly, I'm impressed by how well he is doing, considering he is playing a position he rarely plays. I mentioned this in another thread, while Matthews vision isn't unreal (its good but not uber-elite), he seems to have very high hockey IQ on knowing what his assignment is and how to adapt. It reminds me a bit of how well Sam Reinhart did last year for Buffalo after being moved to the wing and being shuffled around, but due to his high IQ he could quickly adapt to that role and be effective. A lot of the other players on NA seem to have to play the game their way which makes them special but can make it hard to find chemistry quickly.
 
93LEAFS said:
Yeah, plus they had Messier and Hawerchuk. If at any point they managed to get Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Bourque and Coffey on together you are talking 2 top 4 players, 2 top 20, and one of the greatest offensive defencemen of all time.

As for the NA line, I hope years later is spoken about in a high level of reverence. McDavid's line looks amazing on paper but really hasn't clicked yet. I'm starting to think they might separate him and Eichel, I don't think they mesh that well. Both seem a bit too puck dominant and are used to being the sole creators of their line. Gaudreau and Scheifele I think have been the most impressive non-Matthews players (not even going to attempt to be objective on that one) so far.

Really excited to see what Matthews can do in the actual tournament. So far I'm just really impressed he's managed to rightfully move up from the 13th forward to a guy getting top 6 minutes and consistent PP minutes. Similarly, I'm impressed by how well he is doing, considering he is playing a position he rarely plays. I mentioned this in another thread, while Matthews vision isn't unreal (its good but not uber-elite), he seems to have very high hockey IQ on knowing what his assignment is and how to adapt. It reminds me a bit of how well Sam Reinhart did last year for Buffalo after being moved to the wing and being shuffled around, but due to his high IQ he could quickly adapt to that role and be effective. A lot of the other players on NA seem to have to play the game their way which makes them special but can make it hard to find chemistry quickly.
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Agree that Matthews has been outstanding. His IQ is very high - I think it sets him apart from Eichel. He has much better physical skills than Reinhart, but seems to react to the game in a similar way.
 
Whileee said:
That was a terrific line, but I think they only had them together for that one iconic shift. I don't recall them playing Coffey and Bourque with them, however.

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I've watched this video a dozen times, and only just noticed the uncalled Howerchuck hook that allowed this goal to happen. Funny cause my brain always got kind of funny watching this play, as in the neutral zone the Russian forward is right on Lemieux, but when it cuts to the o-zone there's no one near him. At first I thought the guy might have made a disasterous line change... Then I spotted it in the replay from the other angle. Pretty funny. Another one of Gretzky's legendary clutch plays tarnished by a glaring non-call :sarcasm:


Sorry, off topic.
 
Battle Lin said:
his game is so similar to malkin, and i think he moves better
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He's got that hustle to his game but when Malkin turns it on, he can really just take over the offensive zone. I hope Matthews finds that extra gear in the future and just have times where he can do whatever he wants in the offensive zone. Seen flashes of it in the two recent tournaments when Matthews just skates and dekes around the offensive zone but not to the level Malkin can yet.

I'm really excited about just how balanced Matthews is offensively at center and even on the wing, he'll just bring his game. He can snipe it, deke the goalies jockstrap off, stand in front of the net for deflections and rebounds in tight and his passing is pretty on point too for his age.
 
i actually think compared to malkin at around same age, matthews skates better but malkin more skilled
 
Yeah, I know it's quite the statement to make, but he looks like he's a potentially better Malkin... that's how good he is. Scary.

Leafs hit the jackpot here.
 
one77 said:
Yeah, I know it's quite the statement to make, but he looks like he's a potentially better Malkin... that's how good he is. Scary.

Leafs hit the jackpot here.
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A measly 20% chance after the painful season we just had. When it used to be 50% for last place teams to stay at the #1 spot.

The threat of moving all the way down to 4th.

In a year when an elite prospect like Matthews was available. And those types of years don't come along often. In fact, other than 2015... 2016 being the best year to pick #1 in a long time.

Yes. Yes we did.
 
BayStreetBully said:
A measly 20% chance after the painful season we just had. When it used to be 50% for last place teams to stay at the #1 spot.

The threat of moving all the way down to 4th.

In a year when an elite prospect like Matthews was available. And those types of years don't come along often. In fact, other than 2015... 2016 being the best year to pick #1 in a long time.

Yes. Yes we did.
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I almost didn't know how to react. Since when do things go our way? A draft with a (supposed) Big-3, and new rules in place that could have us dropping to 4th? Obviously that was going to happen. I was shocked to see Edmonton come up at 4.

I feel like our new front office has appeased the hockey gods with offerings of humility (accepting a proper rebuild), and ritual sacrifice (anyone seen Robidas lately?).
 
arrbez said:
I almost didn't know how to react. Since when do things go our way? A draft with a (supposed) Big-3, and new rules in place that could have us dropping to 4th? Obviously that was going to happen. I was shocked to see Edmonton come up at 4.

I feel like our new front office has appeased the hockey gods with offerings of humility (accepting a proper rebuild), and ritual sacrifice (anyone seen Robidas lately?).
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Leading up to the lottery, I was just hoping for Puljujarvi at 3. But with every new eliminated team in the lottery, I got greedier and greedier. And when we won 1, my mind just blanked. It was such a franchise changing moment that I just had this feeling that everything will be alright from now on.

It's still surreal thinking that we ended up with Matthews, when no one can feel entitled to a top pick anymore. You can tank for 5 years, and even if you do finish last every year (which is hard in of itself to do), then you still might never get a #1 pick. Let alone in a great year. Jackpot is exactly how I'd describe it.
 
one77 said:
Yeah, I know it's quite the statement to make, but he looks like he's a potentially better Malkin... that's how good he is. Scary.

Leafs hit the jackpot here.
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When Malkin is on and firing on all cylinders I'd argue he's even more dominant than Crosby is. Let's temper our expectations here a bit..
 
All_blueandwhite said:
When Malkin is on and firing on all cylinders I'd argue he's even more dominant than Crosby is. Let's temper our expectations here a bit..
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Agreed, I'd say Matthews seems to have a very consistent effort when he's comfortable. It's going to be a very high constant level in the future though which has me very excited.
 
WilliamNylander said:
He's a professional grinder down low
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Yup. He's more similar to Crosby than McDavid is.

McDavid is more similar to Gretzky. He needs that big bully crazy winger on his line to open up space. McDavid needs a Semenko or McSorley on his line.

Matthews has more of a power forward element to his game. I love it, he's looked great on the wing. Very versatile player.
 
I've said it from the beginning... Matthews has a lot of Sid in his game. Style-wise, he's like Crosby meets Bure. That's just in "style"... not saying he'll end up as great as either... but he could.
 

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