Spade
Resident Tool
Just to get this thread back on the topic of WHY, and not just whether he's better than his peers: I think Matthews is the best prospect in the draft, bar none.
Auston has a compelling ability to make the players around him better. It's a cop out phrase, but it's true. It used to be that his size and puck skills made him a threat, and he used it to his advantage by drawing attention to himself as the spacemaker. But he was so strong and talented that even when he was covered, it was nothing to break through defenses.
What I wanted to see this year wasn't a player who was physically better than his peers. I wanted to see whether he had the ability to outthink his opponents when they were just as big and skilled as he was. I wondered about whether he was really that gifted, or played a simpler game because he didn't have the offensive creativity or senses to do any more.
Through just a few games, he's already blown me away with his improvement. His skating is on another two tiers from where he was at last year. And what it's done is made him a much more dangerous player at both ends of the ice. With his skating, he's really begun to open up opportunities everywhere on the ice, because defenders can't just stick to him and expect to keep up anymore. Now, they have to leave him a gap so that they don't get caught, and what it's done is open up so many more passing lanes for Matthews. And he's been taking advantage of the newfound lanes to show off his playmaking and creativity on an almost shiftly basis.
Defensively he's still developing, but I have very little doubt that he'll be a true number 1 center in the NHL. With his mobility, his shot, his hands, and his feel for the game, he's without question the most complete player in the draft. If he can keep up this level of play throughout the season, there's no chance anyone will catch him.
No disrespect to Chychrun, Puljujarvi or Laine, but at this moment it's a clear cut number 1 for me. Chychrun is the closest, but with his injury concerns and position, it's hard to consider him over the established NHL-ready center. Puljujarvi currently lacks the same swagger, despite having all the physical tools. Laine has the swagger, but his game is more swashbuckling and less NHL-ready than Matthews' and I don't know if he'll ever have the same kind of all-round impact that Matthews has right now, let alone in the future.
Auston has a compelling ability to make the players around him better. It's a cop out phrase, but it's true. It used to be that his size and puck skills made him a threat, and he used it to his advantage by drawing attention to himself as the spacemaker. But he was so strong and talented that even when he was covered, it was nothing to break through defenses.
What I wanted to see this year wasn't a player who was physically better than his peers. I wanted to see whether he had the ability to outthink his opponents when they were just as big and skilled as he was. I wondered about whether he was really that gifted, or played a simpler game because he didn't have the offensive creativity or senses to do any more.
Through just a few games, he's already blown me away with his improvement. His skating is on another two tiers from where he was at last year. And what it's done is made him a much more dangerous player at both ends of the ice. With his skating, he's really begun to open up opportunities everywhere on the ice, because defenders can't just stick to him and expect to keep up anymore. Now, they have to leave him a gap so that they don't get caught, and what it's done is open up so many more passing lanes for Matthews. And he's been taking advantage of the newfound lanes to show off his playmaking and creativity on an almost shiftly basis.
Defensively he's still developing, but I have very little doubt that he'll be a true number 1 center in the NHL. With his mobility, his shot, his hands, and his feel for the game, he's without question the most complete player in the draft. If he can keep up this level of play throughout the season, there's no chance anyone will catch him.
No disrespect to Chychrun, Puljujarvi or Laine, but at this moment it's a clear cut number 1 for me. Chychrun is the closest, but with his injury concerns and position, it's hard to consider him over the established NHL-ready center. Puljujarvi currently lacks the same swagger, despite having all the physical tools. Laine has the swagger, but his game is more swashbuckling and less NHL-ready than Matthews' and I don't know if he'll ever have the same kind of all-round impact that Matthews has right now, let alone in the future.
