Stephen
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I like the fact that TSN put the time to put this together.
Is Auston Matthews the best player in the world ?
- Thread starter Teeder Keon
- Start date
ACC1224
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Stephen
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Yes, the number of games played for Matthews and the Sabres are both listed.
But think about it. 12 Sabres forwards and 6 Sabres defensemen have combined for 234 games and produced 15 goals.
Mess
Global Moderator
Can a player that has posted a career best 80 points in a season, 6 points in any playoff year where his team has never advanced past round #1, and never won any major award other than the Calder really lay claim to being the best player in the World?
Matthews resume to date wouldn't support the claim in comparison to other players, not yet anyways.
I suppose it all depends on how you define "Best".
If someone wants to make the case that Matthews might be the "best" pure natural goal scorer in the game today, that might be a winnable case in the court of public opinion as he has the #'s to support that claim on merit of the facts in evidence.
Matthews resume to date wouldn't support the claim in comparison to other players, not yet anyways.
I suppose it all depends on how you define "Best".
If someone wants to make the case that Matthews might be the "best" pure natural goal scorer in the game today, that might be a winnable case in the court of public opinion as he has the #'s to support that claim on merit of the facts in evidence.
ACC1224
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You’re right, didn’t see that. Thought they played less than that. Wasn’t trying to diminish what Matthews is doing. He’s absolutely amazing and is taking his place as the leagues top goal scorer.
therealkoho
Him/Leaf/fan
c'mon now every Leafs fan worth their salt should know the Gord Drillon trivia
Teeder Keon
Defeat does not rest lightly on their shoulders
DitchMarner
What's The Definition of Impressive?
He has stretches where he looks like he might be, but they're just stretches.
Don't get me wrong: He is an amazing player and probably top ten in the NHL, but he needs to at least have a season where he's in the Hart conversation to justify this question. Otherwise Leafs fans asking if he's the best player in the world look like foolish homers.
McDavid is top five in Hart voting every year. Matthews hasn't yet placed higher than tenth.
Don't get me wrong: He is an amazing player and probably top ten in the NHL, but he needs to at least have a season where he's in the Hart conversation to justify this question. Otherwise Leafs fans asking if he's the best player in the world look like foolish homers.
McDavid is top five in Hart voting every year. Matthews hasn't yet placed higher than tenth.
AllDay28
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DitchMarner
What's The Definition of Impressive?
...wut
stupid shit like this is why Toronto doesnt deserve players like Matthews.. he has "stretches"ya stretches of 82 games where hes great. piss off.
Where did I say he's only good for stretches?
He has stretches where he looks like he might be the best player in the world. When has he had an 82 game season (or a full season of any length) where he was arguably the top player in the game?
ThrowDemTongs
Pontus Goatberg
McDavid.
Matthews is a great player, and by far the best on the Leafs.
He's never won a Hart, an Art Ross or even a playoff round. He's still a work in progress.
If it were up to me I would trade Matthews for McDavid straight up, but not vice versa.
Matthews is a great player, and by far the best on the Leafs.
He's never won a Hart, an Art Ross or even a playoff round. He's still a work in progress.
If it were up to me I would trade Matthews for McDavid straight up, but not vice versa.
bpower
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supermann_98
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Did Taylor Hall have at least a season in the heart conversation before winning it? Did Kucharov? Did Draisatl? They all blew up in their respective MVP winning years and deservedly won it, but somehow Matthews has to do it for a year and then repeat it the next year in order to win it? Such a stupid idea
DitchMarner
What's The Definition of Impressive?
I never said that. I said he has to have at least one season where he's in the Hart conversation to justify asking if he's the best player in the NHL. If he has a season like that this year, then at the end of the season you can ask if he's the best. But right now? What is the basis... ~15 games of play?
Mess
Global Moderator
Matthews is certainly making a strong case on how "tanking" in losing seasons is the BEST thing that can happen for a team to turn their fortunes around, particularly if that selection is drawing out best scorer or player topics and debates.
Where would our Leafs be without Matthews today in terms of competitiveness and Cup aspiration even if they picked #3, 4 or 5 and had Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jesse Puljujarvi or Olli Juolevi instead?
In terms of "best player/scorer" discussions alone his main and direct competition are Crosby, McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon or OV and other #1 OA franchise changing players.
Maybe the only question isn't IF but rather HOW we got to this point and his competition, when viewed through the big picture lens on where this all originated from.
Where would our Leafs be without Matthews today in terms of competitiveness and Cup aspiration even if they picked #3, 4 or 5 and had Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jesse Puljujarvi or Olli Juolevi instead?
In terms of "best player/scorer" discussions alone his main and direct competition are Crosby, McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon or OV and other #1 OA franchise changing players.
Maybe the only question isn't IF but rather HOW we got to this point and his competition, when viewed through the big picture lens on where this all originated from.
Now with him using his body more and really contributing on defence, he's at least in the conversation. yes.
-best goalscorer in the league. very possibly of this generation, the way he's tracked thus far.
-53-55 on faceoffs
-has now added an extra gear of speed after losing weight in the offseason
at 23 Matthews is the complete package.
-best goalscorer in the league. very possibly of this generation, the way he's tracked thus far.
-53-55 on faceoffs
-has now added an extra gear of speed after losing weight in the offseason
at 23 Matthews is the complete package.
Reminds me of the thread on the mainboards. Auston only scoring so much because its all north division he can't improve that much in a year. Yet it's ok that Ovechkin went from 46 to 65 in a single year at the same age.
The Hanging Jowl
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But even that's not true. They snuck in a "5 on 5" note at the top for the Sabres only. They have 32 goals total.
Mess
Global Moderator
Its not only Matthews that is feasting on the North division as the best/top goal scorers in the entire NHL all reside in the Div,
Goals Leaders - All Players - Feb 20th, 2021
| RK | PLAYER | TEAM | GP - | G | A | PTS - | +/- | PIM - | PTS/G - | SOG - | PCT - | GWG - | G | A | G | A |
| 1 | Auston Matthews, C | TOR | 17 | 16 | 9 | 25 | 8 | 2 | 1.47 | 71 | 22.5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Brock Boeser, RW | VAN | 21 | 12 | 9 | 21 | -1 | 8 | 1.00 | 56 | 21.4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Leon Draisaitl, C | EDM | 19 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 12 | 4 | 1.47 | 52 | 19.2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Nikolaj Ehlers, LW | WPG | 17 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 1.06 | 61 | 16.4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Tyler Toffoli, RW | MTL | 15 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 1.00 | 53 | 18.9 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 6 | Connor McDavid, C | EDM | 19 | 9 | 23 | 32 | 3 | 12 | 1.68 | 75 | 12.0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Mark Scheifele, C | WPG | 17 | 9 | 14 | 23 | -1 | 6 | 1.35 | 38 | 23.7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Johnny Gaudreau, LW | CGY | 17 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 1.00 | 39 | 23.1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Josh Anderson, RW | MTL | 15 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 0.73 | 40 | 22.5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
PS. Its hard to rule out QofC in the North when 9 of the top 12 goal scorers all reside in the same Div.
Last edited:
Muston Atthews
Bunch of Bangerz
Stephen
Moderator
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Well, they qualified what they were saying, you just decided to change the parameters.
Stephen
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It's interesting how we've been advocating the tank ever since the 2008 NHL season when the wheels were falling off the JFJ Leafs, and by the time they actually got their act together 8 years later, it's one of the best drafts for the first overall of the past decade.
Teeder Keon
Defeat does not rest lightly on their shoulders
I’d rather move on in terms of the past and just acknowledge and truly appreciate how diversely talented out team is with youthful terrific goal scorers and youthful playmakers and not a bad defense Corp and now with veteran relevant grey beards that are actually adding value to our youthful elite team ..and good enough goaltending
To add to that , we have top notch ownership with the best of everything at our disposal and intelligent forward thinking president and new age gutsy young GM and young coach with new ideas to match our stars ...
If we can match or better the other team with exuberance and hard play , we should be as good as the best teams in the league , which we are at the moment .. I think the best is yet to come this year and the next 5 years
Go Leafs Go
To add to that , we have top notch ownership with the best of everything at our disposal and intelligent forward thinking president and new age gutsy young GM and young coach with new ideas to match our stars ...
If we can match or better the other team with exuberance and hard play , we should be as good as the best teams in the league , which we are at the moment .. I think the best is yet to come this year and the next 5 years
Go Leafs Go
