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Is Auston Matthews the best player in the world ?

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Mess said:
Matthews is nearly at GPG pace against Ottawa in his career.

He had a 4 point night against Ottawa yesterday and 5 goals 3 assists in the 3 game set, but as you say most elite players destroy weak opposition and currently Sens are weakest team in the NHL, but that shouldn't be the basis for defining "Best" player.

He also had 5 goals against Vancouver in that recent 3 game set. So that is 10 of his 16 goals on the season have come in those 6 games against those 2 teams only. So Matthews is feasting on the 2 X weakest teams of the CDN division which is accounting for a large portion of his goal production to date. Where that goal production is fueling this thread question is it not?

If Auston were playing those games against Boston and TB for example would you expect this goals production to go down, up or stay the same?

So you have to consider context and Quality of Competition plays a big part in any comparison like this, if you want to apples to apples comparison. IMO
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Same applies to McDavid who is Canadian North division. Draisaitl and McDavid both have feasted on Ottawa and Vancouver also
 
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rielledup said:
Why do people never learn not to overreact to small sample sizes or players getting really hot to start the season? Do you guys forget that we've already been through this with Matthews? Two years ago during his contract year he was on fire during his first 25 games and people were comparing him to McDavid. Matthews ended up cooling off big time and by the end of the season no one was talking about that comparison anymore.

Why don't we wait a little longer than 18 games to see if he can continue to score at this pace ( very unlikely) and how much he is going to slow down ?
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Since Matthews and Marner were liberated from the Babcock sabotage:

82gm Paces:

McDavid (59gms): 39gls, 120pts, -14 --- (PP 4:17, 11gls/53pts)
Draisaitl (66gms): 46gls, 117pts, -4 ------ (PP 4:14, 25gls/51pts)
Panarin (63gms): 34gls, 112pts, +16 ---- (PP 3:51, 5gls/29pts)
Kucherov (50gms): 44gls, 110pts, +43 -- (PP 3:49, 3gls/30pts)
Marner (59gms): 28gls, 106pts, +33 ----- (PP 3:11, 6gls/33pts)
MacKinnon (60gms): 34gls, 105pts, +25 - (PP 4:00, 11gls/36pts)
Pastrnak (57gms): 50gls, 104pts, +22 ----- (PP 3:51, 19gls/40pts)
Matthews (64gms): 63gls, 100pts, +26 -- (PP 3:08, 17gls/31pts)
Malkin (60gms): 34gls, 98pts, +6 ---------- (PP 3:42, 10gls/29pts)


Since they've had a real coach that uses them like the star players they are, they've produced as well as anyone. The only thing holding them back from being right at the top is that because for some reason refs don't give us power players, so the the rest of this top 10 here all benefit from receiving an extra ~30% power play time.


No need to wait and see - Matthews has always produced at a super elite level - the only thing that has ever held him back from scoring titles is not getting super elite minutes.
 
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5 Mins 4 Ftg said:
Matthews better than McDavid? Nope.
Matthews better than Draisaitl? Nope.
Matthews better than Mackinnon? Nope.
Matthews better than Crosby? Nope.
Matthews better than Hedman? Nope.
Matthews better than Kane? Nope.
Matthews better than Marchand? Nope.
Matthews better than Barkov? Nope.
Matthews better than Panarin? Nope.
Matthews better than Pastrnak? Nope.
Matthews better than Marner? Nope.
Matthews better than Ottawa's Goalies? Yup.

That places him squarely outside the top 10. The difference? None of these players plays with a player like Marner, outside of Marchand and Pastrnak, but all of these players are great on their own. Matthews needs Mitchie or Rielly or Duct Tape Joe setting him up. All these players drive.

Matthews is a product of Marner. :nod:

You guys are delusional.
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of course Oilers fans wouldn't be able to resist this. No other fanbase treats their star players like their children, and that comparing any player to them is an unforgivable insult. Try being normal for a change
 
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Jets fan coming in peace.

I needed to comment on something. There was a thread in the Ovechkin/Matthews comparison that got locked because of the amount of posts, but for some reason I thought Laine had 48 goals in 2017-18 where I said Laine has already had more goals in a season than Matthews.

I was more than wrong on that fact. But I think at this time it's ridiculous to compare Matthews to Ovechkin, not saying he's not a hockey great or superstar, just saying it's not right to call him the best goal scorer in the league right now.
 
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Guys, I know that McDavid is in a different category when it comes to offense (well, Matthews still scores more), but the fact that Matthews is way, way, way better defensively...and I mean it's not even close, you can't even compare the two.

Matthews always played a 200ft game even when he was 18, but in the last 18 months he just elevated his game, he is everywhere. He wins faceoffs, plays PK, has the most takeaways, has the most hits, etc.
Meanwhile, McDavid can fly and can put up ridiculous amount of points. And thats about it.

Matthews is a different animal. I'm not saying he is better. He's just different, a rare piece, a complete package.
 
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socko said:
Define Best?

I always though what made McDavid super is that teams have to constantly worry about his speed, which changes how aggressive you can be with him out on the ice. And also that he can play so many minutes. I think Matthews has closed the minutes gap by getting himself in better shape. He looks markedly better in shape than I've ever seen him in past years, skates better, and doesn't seem to get winded as easy. If it's 5 on 5 points per minute played with overall defensive game included, you'd be hard pressed to beat Matthews.
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A lot of McDavid's extra minutes have been powerplay time anyway.
 
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Twine Tickler said:
I genuinely think he is the 2nd best player in the world. No one will be better than McJesus. Connor is unlike any player since Gretzky. If Connor were to have played in the Era that Wayne did, or vice versa I think we would have a real conversation of greatest of all time. Stanley cups aside, just pure talent. McDavid routinely makes the very best players on the planet look like pee wee house players. Teams game plan specifically to contain him, and have zero luck. Probably the most electric player in NHL history. No one has ever played at that speed with that level of precision. So for all of those reasons I cannot say Auston is the best in the world. And sadly, barring catastrophic injury to Connor, I do not foresee that ever changing. That said, Auston is truly an exceptional talent. I am in awe of what this guy does game in and game out. Absolute must watch TV, and he deserves all the praise he is getting IMO
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Since Gretzky? Possibly you're forgetting about Mario Lemieux.
 
DudeWhereIsMakar said:
Jets fan coming in peace.

I needed to comment on something. There was a thread in the Ovechkin/Matthews comparison that got locked because of the amount of posts, but for some reason I thought Laine had 48 goals in 2017-18 where I said Laine has already had more goals in a season than Matthews.

I was more than wrong on that fact. But I think at this time it's ridiculous to compare Matthews to Ovechkin, not saying he's not a hockey great or superstar, just saying it's not right to call him the best goal scorer in the league right now.
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How is it ridiculous when it's already been shown Ovechkin has averaged twice the powerlay minutes since Matthews career began and Matthews is slightly ahead in goals per game?
 
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EC said:
Auston Matthews is the best pure goal scorer in NHL.

McDavid is best offensive player in NHL.
McKinnon is second best player in NHL.
Bergeron is probably still the best two-way player in NHL.

Vasilevsky is probably best goalie in NHL.

...best D really changes year-to-year. Headman? Josi? Jones? Carlson? more subjective position
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Matthews is unquestionably the best two-way forward in the NHL since offense is half of that equation.
 
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5 Mins 4 Ftg said:
Matthews better than McDavid? Nope.
Matthews better than Draisaitl? Nope.
Matthews better than Mackinnon? Nope.
Matthews better than Crosby? Nope.
Matthews better than Hedman? Nope.
Matthews better than Kane? Nope.
Matthews better than Marchand? Nope.
Matthews better than Barkov? Nope.
Matthews better than Panarin? Nope.
Matthews better than Pastrnak? Nope.
Matthews better than Marner? Nope.
Matthews better than Ottawa's Goalies? Yup.

That places him squarely outside the top 10. The difference? None of these players plays with a player like Marner, outside of Marchand and Pastrnak, but all of these players are great on their own. Matthews needs Mitchie or Rielly or Duct Tape Joe setting him up. All these players drive.

Matthews is a product of Marner. :nod:

You guys are delusional.
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That's quite the post there. Imagine actually believing this? :biglaugh:
 
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authentic said:
How is it ridiculous when it's already been shown Ovechkin has averaged twice the powerlay minutes since Matthews career began and Matthews is slightly ahead in goals per game?
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Not to mention if we can't have the debate this year, it will just be a forgone conclusion next year When Mathews will be scoring dble digits more per season than Ovi.
 
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5 Mins 4 Ftg said:
Matthews better than McDavid? Nope.
Matthews better than Draisaitl? Nope.
Matthews better than Mackinnon? Nope.
Matthews better than Crosby? Nope.
Matthews better than Hedman? Nope.
Matthews better than Kane? Nope.
Matthews better than Marchand? Nope.
Matthews better than Barkov? Nope.
Matthews better than Panarin? Nope.
Matthews better than Pastrnak? Nope.
Matthews better than Marner? Nope.
Matthews better than Ottawa's Goalies? Yup.

That places him squarely outside the top 10. The difference? None of these players plays with a player like Marner, outside of Marchand and Pastrnak, but all of these players are great on their own. Matthews needs Mitchie or Rielly or Duct Tape Joe setting him up. All these players drive.

Matthews is a product of Marner. :nod:

You guys are delusional.
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Hilarious. Well done. Almost had me for a second.
 
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Matthews is a notoriously hot starter. Let's wait a while before we start anointing him as the best player in the league. He is the best goal scorer though.
 
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Confucius said:
1938 Gordie Drillon

in the post o6 era
2002 Sundin finished 4th

Hey its a pandemic and I'm stuck inside. lol
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Matthews tied for 2nd in his rookie season. As a 19 year old he was the best goal scorer we ever had and he did it averaging 17:38 a game and barely over 2 minutes on the powerplay with 2 other rookies as linemates.
 
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authentic said:
Since Gretzky? Possibly you're forgetting about Mario Lemieux.
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Ya absolutely he is included in that list. Mario was a generational talent. Top 5 player in NHL history for sure. I guess what I was trying to say was Connor is playing at a level that is head and shoulders above his peers. Absolutely Mario did that in his career as well. As did all the greats. What I am saying is when you're analyzing Connor's impact to the game thus far, I personally feel he will project to be in that grouping with the greatest players of all time. The Gretzky's, Lemuix, Orr, Howe etc... It is impossible to compare era's, and for that reason, Wayne's Records will likely never be broken. But looking at what Connor is doing present day to what Gretzky did in the past was not to disregard the greatness in between the 2, but more so to say Conner is that special of a talent. Even more so than Sid was, even more so than Ovi. That's just my opinion. Again not a slight on any of the greats before Connor, I just think he is Hockey's version of Lionel Messi. He is changing the game, and leaves you jaw dropped every game
 
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