Is Matthews the worst playoff performer ever?

[Bradely]

Suzuki wasnt #1C in 2020

Suziki is a No 1 center who did not look like one in 2025 PO

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Suziki is a No 1 center who did not look like one in 2025 PO

Nice try man

 

[OldCraig71]

Suziki is a No 1 center who did not look like one in 2025 PO

Why on earth is there a Suzuki reference in a Matthews thread? Repost when Matthews gets to a cup final like Suzuki has.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

On the topic of this and Toronto media, Dreger (one of the biggest talking heads in Toronto) was just saying the other day how Matthews is a stud and you don't even THINK about moving him. When these media heads become friends with the guys, they carry water for them, a good chunk of them are totally corrupted.

Everything about Matthews is off putting:
6th greatest gpg in the season to 84th in the playoffs
Throwing his teammates under the bus while he himself hogs up cap space
Extremely greedy, not only looking for max dollar, but minimum term to maximize dollars in the future
Passionless robot like Tavares
Injury prone and unwilling to tell the fans exactly what happens

Yet talking heads like Dreger only want you to focus on his gpg in the season and ignore everything else. The Leafs 100000% should explore moving Matthews if somebody wants to give you good or even great value.

I forget what the exact thing Dreger said in defense of the core four was, but I remember O-Dog immediately being all like "you can't just keep running it back and expect different results". Essentially, Dreger was doing his usual "the core four are great players who just got unlucky" bit while O-Dog was losing his mind about another collapse.

This was all in response to Duthie posing the question of what do you do after another playoff failure.

 

[sampollock]

Nostril's is not a Capt

 

[hfman]

just see what happens with him, he may or may not kick it into gear for next season

 

[ManWithNoName]

just see what happens with him, he may or may not kick it into gear for next season

Does it really matter though? He can score 200 regular season goals. Come playoffs, he calls in sick for the tenth consecutive year and disappears. Then blames ”the passengers” on the team.

He is a generational loser through and through.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

just see what happens with him, he may or may not kick it into gear for next season

Regular season?

 

[sampollock]

Regular season?

ever he sucks

 

[hfman]

Does it really matter though? He can score 200 regular season goals. Come playoffs, he calls in sick for the tenth consecutive year and disappears. Then blames ”the passengers” on the team.

He is a generational loser through and through.

celebrity status, parties, fashion and night life come first

hockey comes second

 

[jcs0218]

Playoff non-production or not, the real question is: How can anyone Toronto Maple Leafs fan like the attitude that Auston Matthews constantly shows?

When I heard him refer to his teammates as "passengers", I almost choked on my drink.

That wasn't the first time he has shown a very poor attitude, either.

I know Mitch Marner has often rubbed people the wrong way in the past. But at least with Mitch, I get the sense that he actually cares about all the losses but he simply doesn't have the mental toolbox to deal with the pressure and expectations.

With Matthews, I don't think he actually cares about anything other than making sure he looks as good as possible at all times, which is why he wanted to blame everyone else but himself for the team's failures.

If I am Treliving, I would want to trade Matthews even if the return for him doesn't look as good on-paper. At least I would be getting rid of the team cancer by trading Matthews.

MLSE would never let this happen though, because there are still enough fans in Maple Leaf Nation who still mistakenly believe Matthews is some great captain/leaders and they will continue to buy his jerseys. MLSE wouldn't want to lose this revenue.

 

[sampollock]

he can wear a purse good and bury his teammates in his pressers

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Leafs should bring in Michel Therrien to teach this guy rispeck

 

[sampollock]

Leafs should bring in Michel Therrien to teach this guy rispeck

or have bieber hold his purse during those moving RBC commercials

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

Nothing to see here folks. Brad Treliving said that he was "terrific" and a "top" player.

 

[sampollock]

Nothing to see here folks. Brad Treliving said that he was "terrific" and a "top" player.

bubbles would know he does what CEO tells him to say

 

[Duder54]

This is officially my new favourite hockey stat...

 

[LaCarriere]

Shockingly, Matthews led the first two rounds of the playoffs in shots. It just doesn't seem like he did, but I guess he did. 47 shots.

I'd love to see a graphic of where those 47 shots came from. I'm guessing most from low percentage areas.

 

[LaCarriere]

There are obviously "worse" playoff performers if you look at 3rd-4th liners of bottom pairing D, but he has to be near the top when it comes to elite players dropping off in the playoffs. 69 goals last year in 81 games. .85gpg, or or 69.85 per 82. 1 goal in 5 playoff games. .2gpg, or 16.4 per 82.

His playoff gpg was actually slightly better this year (.23), but 2 of his 3 goals and 7 of his 11 points came against Ottawa, who I don't think anyone reasonably thought were likely to win or a top playoff team.

For whatever reason he seems to disappear when it matters most.

 

[Rafafouille]

I'd love to see a graphic of where those 47 shots came from. I'm guessing most from low percentage areas.

73 unblocked shot attempts
55 low danger(75%)
8 medium danger(11%)
10 high danger(13%)

388 unb shot attempts in the regular season
246 low danger(63%)
91 medium danger(24%)
51 high danger(13%)

Same high danger percentage but a 12% swing in between low&med danger.

 

[brentashton]

I cant think of a worse example of a skater whose play so consistently drops off every playoffs and I’ve been watching hockey for 30 years.

This guy is supposed to be a superstar and has a C on his jersey now and it’s the same old. 60 goal man in the regular season, 30 goal pace in the playoffs at best. He wasn’t good at 4 nations either.

It’s time to stop making excuses for this guy IMO.

To answer the title, he sure as hell isn’t anywhere close to being the best (or even average).

 

[RevengeOfTheDrai]

I highly doubt Marner is the one holding him back, we’ll see next year.

 

[Oak]

It's Saturday May 31st. Approximately 3 weeks after this thread was first started. YES he is STILL the worst playoff performer of all time.

 

[Crosby2010]

I'd love to see a graphic of where those 47 shots came from. I'm guessing most from low percentage areas.

He didn't have a ton of high scoring chances, no. Lots on the perimeter. Even the goal he scored in Game 6 vs. Florida was not one of his patented shots we expect. No doubt something was hurting him with the velocity of his shot.

 

[zeroG]

He didn't have a ton of high scoring chances, no. Lots on the perimeter. Even the goal he scored in Game 6 vs. Florida was not one of his patented shots we expect. No doubt something was hurting him with the velocity of his shot.

lot more difficult to get to the inside in the playoffs. i haven't studied all his playoff work but i sat lower bowl in TD Garden for g2 last year on the side TOR shot twice and tried to keep an eye on him. i thought he was weak. mostly perimeter/floating and rarely engaging in the board work that's necessary to win PO series. got a ton of credit for that easy GWG but his overall game was not impressive at all.

Does it really matter though? He can score 200 regular season goals. Come playoffs, he calls in sick for the tenth consecutive year and disappears. Then blames ”the passengers” on the team.

He is a generational loser through and through.

i'm not sure he can recover from that comment (in the room at least). leaders do not blame others.