Is Matthews the worst playoff performer ever?

[Moridin]

He is not exaclly the best ever.

But he has more career playoff points that Keith Tkachuk had.. in 20 less games.

 

[KAWAIlllI]

No?

 

[McSuper]

Maybe the Leafs should pull a Vegas trick and shut him down for the year and use his ltir money to add. I still think the Leafs would have beat Florida if their #1 goalie was hurt.

The one thing about Matthews is he is a shooter. In the playoffs the coverage is so tight it is hard to find that open ice for him to get a clean pass on his stick to release his shot. McDavid is a different beast. He draws so much attention with his speed. He than can find an open man for his passes. If I was the Leafs I would probably trade Matthews for a couple big tough wingers and play them with Marner . I just think with injuries Matthews will really become a problem as he ages .

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Look at the thread...worst ever? He's not lighting the world on fire, but worst ever is a major stretch .How old is Marner? 28? He's probably got 10 years left in this league. There's a chance he may only be halfway done his playoff career. Yzerman, Ovechkin, Datsyuk all had the label of "the worst ever" and bounced back. As I mentioned, his story is yet to be written unlike all the players I mentioned at the top.

Why are you including Ovechkin in that? Ovechkin didn't have TEAM success, but the guy wasn't a no-show in the playoffs. Him versus Crosby in the 2009 playoffs was a classic of two players dominating for their respective teams.

You might want to look up Yzerman's production in the playoffs. Again, you're mistaking TEAM success with INDIVIDUAL performance. Yzerman's overall production was fine in his early years. He just never played on any strong teams early on.

And Datsyuk started in the bottom six early on. Not really sure why you'd compare a guy getting 3rd and 4th line minutes and deployment with a guy getting top line minutes and deployment.

BTW, Yashin was also runner up for the Hart trophy, so yeah he was one of the top players in the game. Point being, it's way too early to tell that he's one of the worst.

Again, Yashin was never in the discussion for top player in the league. No Ottawa fan was sitting there pushing the agenda that he's better than Lemieux, Jagr, Lindros, Forsberg, etc. In contrary, we've had multiple discussions on here about Matthews being on par McDavid or being better than Draisaitl, Kucherov and Mackinnon.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Love hfboards, because of the hyperbole. You have to look at the older players/retired ones to make such judgment calls. For example, look at Keith Primeau. His last playoff run saved him from being a complete playoff bust.

But I discussed this in the history forum in terms of playoff numbers compared to regular season performance it's

Brian Savage
Gus Nyquist
Thomas Tatar
Toni Tanti
Dan Cloutier

Superstars who made big money?

Yashin
Bertuzzi
Nash

Those 3 never won cups or ever stepped up in the playoffs. Some even hurt (Bertuzzi) with by taking dumb penalties or flat out not trying (Yashin). At least Nash did perform well internationally for Canada, so I'll give him a pass never rising up for anything.

All much worse than Matthews and his book hasn't been written yet. I remember when Datsyuk started the playoffs his first 40 games were dreadful, but he bounced back.

Yashin and Bertuzzi?
Yeah that’s a huge stretch to try to make your point. When was Bertuzzi ever listed as a top 5 player with multiple Rockets, a Hart, Lindsay and a Selke finalist. And when was he the highest paid player in the league. Same with Yashin. Both are poor comparisons to Matthews who is an elite regular season player who disappears in the big games.

 

[PoutineSniper]

Some fans have suggested that Matthews was playing hurt in the playoffs (back, wrist, ?)

Has there been any reports that he needs offseason surgery or treatment, or were the suggestions that he was playing injured just an excuse to rationalize his lack of production ?

Matthews said he was hurt and that he will be 100% healthy by the start of next year and he doesn't need surgery.

So if he doesn't need surgery and only requires time off to heal, why couldn't he have done that mid season? Then the leafs could have used his savings to go over the cap.

But, according to the matthews fan boys, hes hurt every playoffs and that's why he always disappoints.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

Short answer : no
Long answer : yes

 

[CN8]

Not the worst but average

 

[connellc]

Yashin and Bertuzzi?
Yeah that’s a huge stretch to try to make your point. When was Bertuzzi ever listed as a top 5 player with multiple Rockets, a Hart, Lindsay and a Selke finalist. And when was he the highest paid player in the league. Same with Yashin. Both are poor comparisons to Matthews who is an elite regular season player who disappears in the big games.

I didn't know Matthews career was over yet? Wait a few years, lets see what he does..

 

[KCC]

Worst ever is ridiculous to say but yes, for what he's being paid, his playoff stats are just average. And average is not good enough if you want to go on a deep run.