Is Auston Matthews still a top 5 player in the world?

[Ezpz]

The only argument for him was the false notion goals count for more than assists. He was never in that elite tier like mcdavid, mack, kuch, and drai for creating offense. Now even if you think he's the fifth best forward it's a ridiculous notion that the fifth best forward is better than the best goalie or best dman.

He's probably top 20 but he's not top ten now.

 

[centipede2233]

Your smoking something if you got a list based on playoffs and are ranking Connor, Helleybuck, Morrissey, Dahlin and Quinn Hughes ahead of Matthews.

Not solely on playoffs. There is no one with sanity who is taking Matthew’s over Q.Hughes , i promise

 

[Plural]

He probably was the year he won the Hart.

I don't think he is now.

I think he was close at least. But the Hart is not always (though usually it is) accurate representation of that. Taylor Hall comes to mind as the latest.

 

[Canadiens Ghost]

Top players in the league make their teammates better. Matthews has never done that. Nowhere close to top 5.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Top 5 talent? Sure.

Top 5 playoff performer? Nope.

This is kind of similar to how I view it.

If you just look at regular season Matthews and what he's capable of, then he's still got an argument (though it's fading if he's constantly hurt) for being a top 5 player.

The problem is, I just can't ignore how much his play drops in the playoffs to keep him ranked there. I don't care if he scores 70 goals in the regular season if he performs like a 10 goal scorer when it matters most.

I'd rank him around the top 10-ish range (give or take a couple of spots). But his playoff performance keeps him outside of the list of guys like Draisaitl, Mackinnon, Kucherov, Makar, etc. who've actually shown strong playoff performances at various points in their career.

 

[tabness]

He's still a superstar and amongst the very best just needs a change of scenary. He should come to Detroit to come work with the great ASP

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

Top 1 front runner fraud. It's really exciting to watch international play when he's on the other team.

 

[Hollowmoon]

He is 1st, everyone else is just passangers...

 

[Regal]

No it's not. Taylor Hall has a Hart too, and at to point in his career has he ever been top 5, including that season.
Same applies to Matthews. Top 10, sure you could make an argument, but there's no argument for top 5 that isn't driven by bias, hell it's debatable that he's the best player on his own team a lot

There’s no argument that the guy who won the Hart, Lindsay, and Richard, was 0.02 behind Kucherov for 2nd in points per game, and was better defensively than any other forward in the top 10 in scoring was a top 5 player? And this was coming off a year where he also won the Richard, was 2nd in Hart voting and a Lindsay finalist. Sure, Jan.

 

[M88K]

If Matthews was half as good as Leafs fans try to make him out to be, they would a cup contender instead of a speed bump in the PO

 

[Fatass]

Matthews never was top five.

 

[Duder54]

Without the option “He was never a top-5 player to begin with” this poll is useless.

 

[Duder54]

In no particular order, taking playoffs into consideration too, players I’d rather have on my team than Matthews….

- McDavid
- Draisaitl
- Kucherov
- MacKinnon
- Makar
- Rantanen
- Pasternak
- Crosby
- M. Tkachuk
- Barkov

Heck, I’d probably pick Willy Nylander over Matthews tbh, if just considering playoff performance. Even Nylander has 7 more goals in the last 5 playoffs vs the supposed best goal scorer in the game.

 

[Toby91ca]

Not really. His goal scoring that season was something else, but he was still behind
McDavid
Driasaitl
Kucherov
Mackinnon
Makar
Hedman
Josi
That year.

There’s more from this list, but if we are looking at one single year, I have a super hard time figuring out how the guy with 13th most Norris votes and 0 Hart votes is ranked higher than the Hart and Pearson winner.

To the actual poll question? I’m not sure. If Matthews was healthy, I’m concerned….then again if he wasn’t healthy I’d be concerned as well about ability to stay healthy…we’ve already had that discussion….but either way, I think it’s hard to slot him until I see if he comes into next season healthy and how he does.

 

[Toby91ca]

Leafs have 4 of the top 11 salaries in the league. Weird.

Completely irrelevant, but curious where you are getting that data, I count 2

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Never was. The more relevant category is top 5 center. Closer to top 10+ player overall.

 

[NVious]

He was never Top-5 outside of Leafs enthusiasts. I have him just outside the Top-10

Not in exact order but I'd have 10 of these guys above (goalies are not in the same ranking)

McDavid
MacKinnon
Draisaitl
Kucherov
Makar
Barkov
Kaprizov
Pastrnak
Eichel
Q. Hughes
Rantanen

(And the time he won all the awards and the players voted him as the best player, but they were probably just Leafs fans)

 

[Fatass]

Saravelli on local sports radio this morning saying Matthews has a serious (and perhaps chronic) back issue. Definitely, if that’s the case, he’s maybe done as a top player.

 

[Xspyrit]

(And the time he won all the awards and the players voted him as the best player, but they were probably just Leafs fans)

uhhh..... very confused... are you quoting the wrong poster?

Edit : wait, unless you were really quoting my post

If we take Matthews ultimate peak (2020-21 to 2023-24), he was 6th in points and PPG during that time but the best goal scorer. I guess he could be considered a Top-10 player during his peak

One of these seasons (2022-23) was nothing special : 17th in PPG and 13th in GPG but the 3 other seasons I guess he could qualify as a Top-5 player or close.

But outside of these 3 seasons? Just a big star player, maybe around 15th-20th best

So I should edit my initial comment I guess :

He was never Top-5 outside of being borderline Top-5 in 3 cherry-picked season

 

[x Tame Impala]

He’s a top 10 talent but he blows in the playoffs so that tremendously lowers his ranking for me personally.

If I could draft either him or Barkov to the Hawks I’d go with Barkov without question.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

Depends on his injuries. He said he expects to be back at 100% next year, so we'll see. If the issues are chronic that's a problem.

 

[Canadiens Ghost]

Depends on his injuries. He said he expects to be back at 100% next year, so we'll see. If the issues are chronic that's a problem.

He has chronic playoffitis.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

He’s a top 10 talent but he blows in the playoffs so that tremendously lowers his ranking for me personally.

If I could draft either him or Barkov to the Hawks I’d go with Barkov without question.

Honestly, going forward I think Eichel's a more effective player than Matthews simply because he's better able to create for his linemates.

I know the results (both team and individual) weren't there for Eichel versus the Oilers, but he was dangerous every time he was on the ice. He created so many chances that his linemates flubbed. You don't see that sort of offensive generation from Matthews consistently.

 

[Madap]

At his best he is for sure.

Unfortunately he’s not consistently at his best, injuries or not, so hard to put him top 5.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Completely irrelevant, but curious where you are getting that data, I count 2

Depends if talking about 24/25 or 25/26

24/25 there is 3, and 4 in top 11
If 25/26 then 2, as JT and MM don’t have a contract.