Do you consider Auston Matthews a Top-5 Center heading into next year?

[Incognito]

No.

McDavid, MacKinnon, Crosby, Eichel, Draisaitl, Pettersson all are easily better. There are arguments for one or two others, as well.

Pettersson easily better? No, that's just flat out wrong. He's not even on par with Matthews yet.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

No, he has a case for top 10.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Pettersson easily better? No, that's just flat out wrong. He's not even on par with Matthews yet.

I can't really say I get the Pettersson hype. Good player yes, but not as good as a top 3 goal scorer in the league who puts up well above point per game production and is also solid two way. I think Quinn Hughes is the real franchise player for the Nucks.

 

[Incognito]

I can't really say I get the Pettersson hype. Good player yes, but not as good as a top 3 goal scorer in the league who puts up well above point per game production and is also solid two way. I think Quinn Hughes is the real franchise player for the Nucks.

Yeah, Quinn Hughes is a definite stud. And I do think that Pettersson has a high ceiling and great potential, but for now, it remains just that - potential. It just confuses me to see so many posters erroneously place Pettersson above Matthews right now, despite the fact that there's currently no legitimate argument to be made in support of such a stance.

 

[Aceboogie]

In no particular order

1. Draisaitl
2. Crosby
3. McDavid
4.Eichel
5.Malkin
6.Schefele


7.Point
8.Bergeron
9.Aho
10. Barkov
11. O'Reilly
12. Petterson

It's hard to rate Matthews, is he a top goal scoring Center, absolutely. But is he a complete Center. For instance Point, Bergeron, Barkov, O'Rielly are elite defensively. Also all the players above are better playmakers, and I am not convinced 2 videos in a career show that he is. I would say he is closer to top 10, top 5? No, not yet.

Id agree with this. Matthews hovers around 6-12 throughout the season

 

[b in vancouver]

There's some awfully good centres in the league.

McDavid
MacKinnon
Crosby
Bergeron
Draisatl
Malkin

kinda precludes him from top 5. These guys just tilt the ice too much.
Puts him somewhere in the group of - in no order

Eichel
Stamkos
Giroux
Pettersson
Point
Aho
Backstrom
Tavares
Barzal
ROR
Couturier
Barkov
Scheiffle
(playoff hockey I'm for sure taking David Krejci over him. But only in the playoffs.)

Anyways I'd have him 3rd or 4th on that 2nd list so in the 8-12 range. That's not a slight on Matthews. He's great. However so are these other guys.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I don't think he is better than 3 of the following centers:

Connor McDavid
Patrice Bergeron
Sean Couturier
Elias Pettersson
Nathan MacKinnon
Ryan O'Reilly
Sidney Crosby

I think everyone knows you're into advanced stats, but having Couturier and O Reilly ahead of Matthews is almost disrespectful, imo. Also, a 35 year old Bergeron over Matthews heading into next year is also questionable to me.

 

[Fear]

Yes, only MacKinnon and McDavid are certainly better. Maybe Draisaitl. Crosby, Bergeron and Malkin have all taken a step back, IMO Matthews is more impactful than any of them today

 

[b in vancouver]

As an honest question.
His scoring is amazing but do general and/or Leaf fans think he'll continue that? I personally have my doubts. And that's nothing to do with how talented I know he is but more with playing centre. I have the same question about Drai if he stays centre. Outside of Stamkos, you really don't see centres being able to consistently score at elite levels. Guys like Crosby and E. Staal have had great goal-scoring runs/years but then kinda focus more on their 200ft. game or play-making and were never consistent in goal-scoring as there's extra responsibilities and less room playing that position
I'm interested to see how Matthews and Draisatl's goal-scoring changes over the next few seasons.

 

[b in vancouver]

I think everyone knows you're into advanced stats, but having Couturier and O Reilly ahead of Matthews is almost disrespectful, imo. Also, a 35 year old Bergeron over Matthews heading into next year is also questionable to me.

I understand the argument against him but he's like 'The Player That Time Forgot'. He's playing fantastic hockey still so until he actually slows down and stops getting better every season, I'm personally not betting against him.

 

[93LEAFS]

As an honest question.
His scoring is amazing but do general and/or Leaf fans think he'll continue that? I personally have my doubts. And that's nothing to do with how talented I know he is but more with playing centre. I have the same question about Drai if he stays centre. Outside of Stamkos, you really don't see centres being able to consistently score at elite levels. Guys like Crosby and E. Staal have had great goal-scoring runs/years but then kinda focus more on their 200ft. game or play-making and were never consistent in goal-scoring as there's extra responsibilities and less room playing that position
I'm interested to see how Matthews and Draisatl's goal-scoring changes over the next few seasons.

I think he stays an elite goal scorer. He's been the best 5v5 goal scorer in the league over 4 full seasons playing center, and only recently added a good one-timer for the PP. He averages 46 goals per 82 games played throughout his career. The only people who average more than .5 gpg since Matthews entered the league are Ovechkin (.58), Matthews (.56), Pastrnak (.53) and Kucherov (.50). So, I'd say that is a large enough sample to say it is likely to continue.

 

[voxel]

This is even more more ridiculous than the post you are responding to.

Matthews can pass the puck. No he's not out there giving guys back door tap ins regularly but he knows how to use his linemates and find the open guy. He usually makes the smart but simple play.

At his peak, I see him getting 40-50 assists a year, because he can pass the puck and with the volume offensive player he is, he'll rack up the assists over a full 82 games.

I was responding to the poster bragging about Matthews sick backhand pass which was nice but not something he does nightly. Sure he can pass the puck but I've said before he lacks the elite playmaking vision. Getzlaf has the vision. Thornton has that vision. Matthews is closer to Laine in playmaking. It's first-line quality but not elite to push him into top-5 C category. Even Kopitar and Barkov have better playmaking vision and I would consider those two better Cs than Matthews.

 

[SotasicA]

Yes. McDavid, MacKinnon, Crosby, Eichel, Matthews. There. Top 5.

 

[BAM]

As an honest question.
His scoring is amazing but do general and/or Leaf fans think he'll continue that? I personally have my doubts. And that's nothing to do with how talented I know he is but more with playing centre. I have the same question about Drai if he stays centre. Outside of Stamkos, you really don't see centres being able to consistently score at elite levels. Guys like Crosby and E. Staal have had great goal-scoring runs/years but then kinda focus more on their 200ft. game or play-making and were never consistent in goal-scoring as there's extra responsibilities and less room playing that position
I'm interested to see how Matthews and Draisatl's goal-scoring changes over the next few seasons.

Matthews probably has the best shot in the league save for Ovi. It doesn't matter that he plays center. With him adding the slapshot more this year he can be a nightmare if you give him space. I think this coming season you'll see around 50-60 goals and 40-50 assists assuming he plays a full season.

He's actually a good player maker as well, it's just he either plays with Marner who might as well not shoot or Nylander who has a great shot but before this year was inconsistent with hitting the net. If the Leafs put Robertson on his line next year, I'd wager he'd set a career high in assists. A line of Robertson, Matthews and Nylander would have the 3 best shots on the team all on one line.

 

[Sweetpotato]

Yes. McDavid, MacKinnon, Crosby, Eichel, Matthews. There. Top 5.

#ArtRoss

 

[CycloneSweep]

Depends how the year goes? Not basing on age or potential but play in the last season I have in no order

MacKinnon
McDavid
Draisaitl
Bergeron
Crosby
Malkin

As better

 

[Aceboogie]

Yes. McDavid, MacKinnon, Crosby, Eichel, Matthews. There. Top 5.

You are forgetting the guy who outscored him by 30 points

 

[b in vancouver]

I think he stays an elite goal scorer. He's been the best 5v5 goal scorer in the league over 4 full seasons playing center, and only recently added a good one-timer for the PP. He averages 46 goals per 82 games played throughout his career. The only people who average more than .5 gpg since Matthews entered the league are Ovechkin (.58), Matthews (.56), Pastrnak (.53) and Kucherov (.50). So, I'd say that is a large enough sample to say it is likely to continue.

Matthews probably has the best shot in the league save for Ovi. It doesn't matter that he plays center. With him adding the slapshot more this year he can be a nightmare if you give him space. I think this coming season you'll see around 50-60 goals and 40-50 assists assuming he plays a full season.

He's actually a good player maker as well, it's just he either plays with Marner who might as well not shoot or Nylander who has a great shot but before this year was inconsistent with hitting the net. If the Leafs put Robertson on his line next year, I'd wager he'd set a career high in assists. A line of Robertson, Matthews and Nylander would have the 3 best shots on the team all on one line.

I definitely didn't mean my question as a slight to his goal-scoring ability as he's one of the elite goal scorers in the game, nor his talent to adjust to being more of a play-maker. It's just incredibly rare for a centre to be the primary goal scorer on his line/team consistently for more than a couple seasons. There's really not that many centres since Phil Esposito that were 'that guy'. Wayne and Mario could do it all but when you think of goal-scorers - it's predominantly wingers and guys like Lafleur, Bossy, Kurri, Gartner, Neely, Brett Hull, Selanne, Ovechkin, etc.

It's just the different demands of the position as despite his talent, I don't think I'd gamble on him challenging for The Rocket many times. I think he has a decent chance of winning one or two of them over the next couple seasons but I think as he matures and becomes a bit more dominant of a player that you'll conversely see the goal-scoring dip.

 

[BAM]

I definitely didn't mean my question as a slight to his goal-scoring ability as he's one of the elite goal scorers in the game, nor his talent to adjust to being more of a play-maker. It's just incredibly rare for a centre to be the primary goal scorer on his line/team consistently for more than a couple seasons. There's really not that many centres since Phil Esposito that were 'that guy'. Wayne and Mario could do it all but when you think of goal-scorers - it's predominantly wingers and guys like Lafleur, Bossy, Kurri, Gartner, Neely, Brett Hull, Selanne, Ovechkin, etc.

It's just the different demands of the position as despite his talent, I don't think I'd gamble on him challenging for The Rocket many times. I think he has a decent chance of winning one or two of them over the next couple seasons but I think as he matures and becomes a bit more dominant of a player that you'll conversely see the goal-scoring dip.

If he uses his size more, that'll just up his goals around the net. He's actually a monster physically. This past season is when he started to play like it. If he can bully Weber, he can outmuscle 99% of the guys in the league.

As for the Rocket, I disagree. The key to him is health. If Matthews is healthy, he's got the best chance outside of Ovechkin for it yearly imo. Pasta is a great player, but sometimes I wonder what Matthews could do if he was on that line with Bergeron and Marchand.

 

[LeafsNation75]

I definitely didn't mean my question as a slight to his goal-scoring ability as he's one of the elite goal scorers in the game, nor his talent to adjust to being more of a play-maker. It's just incredibly rare for a centre to be the primary goal scorer on his line/team consistently for more than a couple seasons. There's really not that many centres since Phil Esposito that were 'that guy'. Wayne and Mario could do it all but when you think of goal-scorers - it's predominantly wingers and guys like Lafleur, Bossy, Kurri, Gartner, Neely, Brett Hull, Selanne, Ovechkin, etc.

It's just the different demands of the position as despite his talent, I don't think I'd gamble on him challenging for The Rocket many times. I think he has a decent chance of winning one or two of them over the next couple seasons but I think as he matures and becomes a bit more dominant of a player that you'll conversely see the goal-scoring dip.

For those who consider Leon Draisatil to be a Center, he lead the Oilers in goals scored the last 2 seasons and this past season he also lead them in total points. So why couldn't Matthews keep playing the way he is scoring goals and etc.

 

[shadow1]

IMO it's (alphabetically)

Draisaitl
Eichel
MacKinnon
McDavid
Matthews

There's definitely guys that are damn close (Aho, Barkov, Petterson, etc.) though.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

McDavid
Crosby
MacKinnon
Malkin


He's after these guys but an argument can be made he's fighting for 5th with a few other guys.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

I can't really say I get the Pettersson hype. Good player yes, but not as good as a top 3 goal scorer in the league who puts up well above point per game production and is also solid two way. I think Quinn Hughes is the real franchise player for the Nucks.

Because Pettersson looks very impressive on the ice. Very flashy player, much like Hughes. But his production is not elite (yet). Bright future for him but penciling him in as a top 10 player in the league or top 5 center is so ridiculous.

 

[Puckstuff]

His shot and goal scoring are elite but every time I watch him... his playmaking and vision are underwhelming.

This is true, he's an elite goal scorer but I don't think he is an elite playmaker and many of his passes are not on the stick of his teammates, it's frustrating.

 

[psycat]

You have Matthews not even top-10? Is it because he is from Toronto?

I mean he doesn't have MacKinnon top 10 either.

Anyway for me he is not top 5 but certainly top 10.

MacKinnon
McDavid
Draisaitl
Malkin
Crosby

top 5 for me.