Jarome Iginla vs. Auston Matthews

[Craft Beer Lover]

At his age, Iginla also had multiple Rockets, a Lester B Pearson, an Art Ross and a King Clancy.

Later in his career he won the Mark Messier leadership award, which Matthews will never get within a mile of.

Also on that note, in averaging only 35 assists per season, Matthews will never, EVER get within a mile of an Art Ross Trophy in his career.

 

[leafsfan5]

this is the most hfboards poll ever

 

[Plural]

I think Matthews is tad better. I do like Iginla as a player more (seriously though, everyone loved him back in the day, right?) and would entertain the idea of picking him to my team instead of Matthews.

But at the end of the day, Auston is better offensive player and for offensive minded players that is a big deal.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

So you say “he came up short and choked”. How is taking a much better team to game 7 and losing by a goal choking? Also he didn’t come up short, his team did. Pretty sure if you analyze the problems with the 04 Flames, Iggy isn’t even close to the top of your list.

And yeah I guess it’s not fair to compare Matthews at 26 to Iginla who is done playing, but those gold medal games and cup run matter. Matthews is an elite player no question, but we’re eliminating context from the debate. Does Iginla have 60 goals on a stacked offensive team in an era where multiple changes have been made to favour offence and protect players from concussions?

I mean the Flames were up 3-2 in the series and with two chances to get the job done Iginla went pointless and didn't even get a shot in game 7... so yeah, I'd say he came up short.

Cinderella run or not he still lost and played bad in the end, a trend that would continue for his NHL playoff career.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

been a while since I looked up Iginla's stats. but you know for a guy that everyone is putting over Matthews and saying playoffs is a big reason I kinda expected him to have made it more than 7 times. really only one solid run as the leader of the team. also they were robbed that year.

Im a big Iginla fan and always will be, excited to see his boy in the NHL too but I dont really find this close at all. Matthews by a wide margin.

too much Leaf hate out there for people to give the man credit

also to Matthews sitting out this year, I mean if the doctors say no, no matter how much the player wants to go out there it's not happening.
unless someone knows 100% he just gave up

 

[Tuna99]

didn’t think I’d ever say this but I think Matthews has a bigger forehead then Iginla.

Matthews forehead is so big you could use it as a band around the Stanley Cup to put winning players names on

 

[frontsfan2005]

Iginla: Drafted 11th overall in 1995 (Born Jul. 1/77)
Age 18: WHL for season - Playoffs: 2 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS
Age 19: 82 GP, 21 G, 29 A, 50 PTS - NHL All-Rookie Team
Age 20: 70 GP, 13 G, 19 A, 32 PTS
Age 21: 82 GP, 28 G, 23 A, 51 PTS
Age 22: 77 GP, 29 G, 34 A, 63 PTS
Age 23: 77 GP, 31 G, 40 A, 71 PTS
Age 24: 82 GP, 52 G, 42 A, 96 PTS - Richard Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Pearson Award
Age 25: 75 GP, 35 G, 32 A, 67 PTS
Age 26: 81 GP, 41 G, 32 A, 73 PTS - Playoffs: 26 GP, 13 G, 9 A, 22 PTS - Richard Trophy
Totals: 626 GP, 250 G, 253 A, 503 PTS - Playoffs: 28 GP, 14 G, 10 A, 24 PTS

Matthews: Drafted 1st overall in 2016 (Born Sep. 17/97)
Age 18: Switzerland, not yet eligible for draft
Age 19: 82 GP, 40 G, 29 A, 69 PTS - Playoffs: 6 GP, 4 G, 1 A, 5 PTS - Calder Trophy, NHL All-Rookie Team
Age 20: 62 GP, 34 G, 29 A, 63 PTS - Playoffs: 7 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS
Age 21: 68 GP, 37 G, 36 A, 73 PTS - Playoffs: 7 GP, 5 G, 1 A, 6 PTS
Age 22: 70 GP, 47 G, 33 A, 80 PTS - Playoffs: 5 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 PTS
Age 23: 52 GP, 41 G, 25 A, 66 PTS - Playoffs: 7 GP, 1 G, 4 A, 5 PTS - Richard Trophy
Age 24: 73 GP, 60 G, 46 A, 106 PTS - Playoffs: 7 GP, 4 G, 5 A, 9 PTS - Hart Trophy, Richard Trophy, Lindsay Award
Age 25: 74 GP, 40 G, 45 A, 85 PTS - Playoffs; 11 GP, 5 G, 6 A, 11 PTS
Age 26: 81 GP, 69 G, 38 A, 107 PTS - Playoffs: 5 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS - Richard Trophy
Totals: 562 GP, 368 G, 281 A, 649 PTS - Playoffs: 55 GP, 23 G, 25 A, 48 PTS

Ages 19-23 seasons all heavily favour Matthews.
Age 24 season is a tie, Iggy won the Richard, Ross and Pearson while Matthews won the Hart, Richard and Lindsay.
Age 25 is a down season for both, but Matthews gets the slight edge.
Age 26 again is extremely close. Both won the Richard and while Iggy had an incredible playoff run (leading NHL with 13 goals), it's impossible to ignore a 69 goal season. I'll give this one a tie.

As for career wise, it's easily Matthews at this point.

Moving forward - Iggy after age 26:
Age 27 - DNP - Lockout
Age 28 - 82 GP, 35 G, 32 A, 67 PTS - Playoffs: 7 GP, 5 G, 3 A, 8 PTS
Age 29 - 70 GP, 39 G, 55 A, 94 PTS - Playoffs: 6 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 PTS
Age 30 - 82 GP, 50 G, 48 A, 98 PTS - Playoffs: 7 GP, 4 G, 5 A, 9 PTS
Age 31 - 82 GP, 35 G, 54 A, 89 PTS - Playoffs: 6 GP, 3 G, 1 A, 4 PTS - Messier Award
Age 32 - 82 GP, 32 G, 37 A, 69 PTS
Age 33 - 82 GP, 43 G, 43 A, 86 PTS
Age 34 - 82 GP, 32 G, 35 A, 67 PTS
Age 35 - 44 GP, 14 G, 19 A, 33 PTS - Playoffs: 15 GP, 4 G, 8 A, 12 PTS
Age 36 - 78 GP, 30 G, 31 A, 61 PTS - Playoffs: 12 GP, 5 G, 2 A, 7 PTS
Age 37 - 82 GP, 29 G, 30 A, 59 PTS
Age 38 - 82 GP, 22 G, 25 A, 47 PTS
Age 39 - 80 GP, 14 G, 13 A, 27 PTS
Totals - 928 GP, 375 G, 422 A, 797 PTS - Playoffs: 53 GP, 23 G, 21 A, 44 PTS

Iginla loses a season right in the middle of his prime due to the lockout. He remains a very durable player throughout these years and wins the Messier Award.

Matthews will have the better age 27 season (he will actually play) and likely age 28 season. Iginla has some very strong seasons from age 29-36, especially from 29-31 and again at 33. It will be interesting to see how Matthews ages.

 

[Craft Beer Lover]

didn’t think I’d ever say this but I think Matthews has a bigger forehead then Iginla.

Matthews forehead is so big you could use it as a band around the Stanley Cup to put winning players names on

He’ll be totally bald by 30.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

If Auston Matthews had to play through even half the shit Jarome Iginla did, he’d retire.

Next.

I agree with this.

Matthews is perfect for the NHL now. Iginla is perfect for the NHL in any era.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

At his age, Iginla also had multiple Rockets, a Lester B Pearson, an Art Ross and a King Clancy.

Later in his career he won the Mark Messier leadership award, which Matthews will never get within a mile of.

Don't ever list the Frito Lay Messier Ego Award as evidence of anything. It's literally voted on by one guy. Listing that as an accomplishment is barely a step above saying "His mom thinks he's a great player!"

 

[Minnesota Knudsens]

I mean the Flames were up 3-2 in the series and with two chances to get the job done Iginla went pointless and didn't even get a shot in game 7... so yeah, I'd say he came up short.

Cinderella run or not he still lost and played bad in the end, a trend that would continue for his NHL playoff career.

Think about it. If you were playing the 04 Flames in the cup final with a roster like they were playing with, as a coach what would your instructions be to your players? I would say “absolutely grab and maul Iginla every chance you get”. We know that Iggy wasn’t Gretzky, Lemieux, McDavid or Orr, but does that detract from who he was? Call me when Matthews and his band of absolutely Charmin soft bunch get there.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

Think about it. If you were playing the 04 Flames in the cup final with a roster like they were playing with, as a coach what would your instructions be to your players? I would say “absolutely grab and maul Iginla every chance you get”. We know that Iggy wasn’t Gretzky, Lemieux, McDavid or Orr, but does that detract from who he was? Call me when Matthews and his band of absolutely Charmin soft bunch get there.

Maybe if he showed that kind of play the rest of his career in the playoffs, but he didn't, he was underwhelming.

Way too much credit for a fluke run here

 

[KevinRedkey]

In 2001-2002 a French-Canadian was the only person to leave Iginla off his Hart ballot entirely, in an effort to help Theodore win it. It worked, because they were tied, but Theodore won the tie breaker for having more 1st place votes.

Matthews has had a better start to his career, but has also had a LOT more to work with. Iginla had strong longevity, which only time will tell regarding Matthews.

I'm kinda torn on this one as Matthews projects better but I'm not sure he is quite yet.

 

[ColbyChaos]

Matthews doesnt have that dawg in him. He is a soyboy when comparing him to Iginla

 

[wetcoast]

this is the most hfboards poll ever

Pretty Much, had Iginka played for the Leafs and AM for Calgary and everything for both players was exactly the same except the colour of their jerseys probably 25+% of the people voting for Iggy right now would be saying AM and it's not even close.

I loved Iggy as a Canucks fan who watched alot of him but this is clearly AM.

 

[MacMacandBarbie]

been a while since I looked up Iginla's stats. but you know for a guy that everyone is putting over Matthews and saying playoffs is a big reason I kinda expected him to have made it more than 7 times. really only one solid run as the leader of the team. also they were robbed that year.

This is the issue, most people commenting on here haven’t watched Iginla’s whole career very closely. ‘One solid playoff run’ is honestly putting it lightly. The flames missed the playoffs the year before. Then just by adding a healthy Iginla, they get 1 win away from a Cup win. It was one of the biggest player impacts on a team we have ever seen, and when that season concluded Iginla was considered by many to be the best in the world.

 

[MacMacandBarbie]

Pretty Much, had Iginka played for the Leafs and AM for Calgary and everything for both players was exactly the same except the colour of their jerseys probably 25+% of the people voting for Iggy right now would be saying AM and it's not even close.

I loved Iggy as a Canucks fan who watched alot of him but this is clearly AM.

Haha it’s actually the opposite, Matthews would be ranked much lower because he wouldn’t have the hype of being on the leafs and delusional fans touting him above Ovechkin and anointing him as the next coming.

The reality is these are two very close in skill and peak players, with polar opposite skill sets and so there isn’t a ‘right’ answer. Iginla peaked in this league as one of the best in the world following one of the most impressive Cinderella finals runs we have ever seen.

The facts are Matthews just hasn’t peaked higher than Iginla, and that’s okay, because that would effectively put Matthews in McDavid territory for this current generation, and that’s an unfair bar to be placed on, despite the plethora of leaf fans that do so anyway.

 

[Fatass]

Iginla: Drafted 11th overall in 1995 (Born Jul. 1/77)
Age 18: WHL for season - Playoffs: 2 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS
Age 19: 82 GP, 21 G, 29 A, 50 PTS - NHL All-Rookie Team
Age 20: 70 GP, 13 G, 19 A, 32 PTS
Age 21: 82 GP, 28 G, 23 A, 51 PTS
Age 22: 77 GP, 29 G, 34 A, 63 PTS
Age 23: 77 GP, 31 G, 40 A, 71 PTS
Age 24: 82 GP, 52 G, 42 A, 96 PTS - Richard Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Pearson Award
Age 25: 75 GP, 35 G, 32 A, 67 PTS
Age 26: 81 GP, 41 G, 32 A, 73 PTS - Playoffs: 26 GP, 13 G, 9 A, 22 PTS - Richard Trophy
Totals: 626 GP, 250 G, 253 A, 503 PTS - Playoffs: 28 GP, 14 G, 10 A, 24 PTS

Matthews: Drafted 1st overall in 2016 (Born Sep. 17/97)
Age 18: Switzerland, not yet eligible for draft
Age 19: 82 GP, 40 G, 29 A, 69 PTS - Playoffs: 6 GP, 4 G, 1 A, 5 PTS - Calder Trophy, NHL All-Rookie Team
Age 20: 62 GP, 34 G, 29 A, 63 PTS - Playoffs: 7 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS
Age 21: 68 GP, 37 G, 36 A, 73 PTS - Playoffs: 7 GP, 5 G, 1 A, 6 PTS
Age 22: 70 GP, 47 G, 33 A, 80 PTS - Playoffs: 5 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 PTS
Age 23: 52 GP, 41 G, 25 A, 66 PTS - Playoffs: 7 GP, 1 G, 4 A, 5 PTS - Richard Trophy
Age 24: 73 GP, 60 G, 46 A, 106 PTS - Playoffs: 7 GP, 4 G, 5 A, 9 PTS - Hart Trophy, Richard Trophy, Lindsay Award
Age 25: 74 GP, 40 G, 45 A, 85 PTS - Playoffs; 11 GP, 5 G, 6 A, 11 PTS
Age 26: 81 GP, 69 G, 38 A, 107 PTS - Playoffs: 5 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS - Richard Trophy
Totals: 562 GP, 368 G, 281 A, 649 PTS - Playoffs: 55 GP, 23 G, 25 A, 48 PTS

Ages 19-23 seasons all heavily favour Matthews.
Age 24 season is a tie, Iggy won the Richard, Ross and Pearson while Matthews won the Hart, Richard and Lindsay.
Age 25 is a down season for both, but Matthews gets the slight edge.
Age 26 again is extremely close. Both won the Richard and while Iggy had an incredible playoff run (leading NHL with 13 goals), it's impossible to ignore a 69 goal season. I'll give this one a tie.

As for career wise, it's easily Matthews at this point.

Moving forward - Iggy after age 26:
Age 27 - DNP - Lockout
Age 28 - 82 GP, 35 G, 32 A, 67 PTS - Playoffs: 7 GP, 5 G, 3 A, 8 PTS
Age 29 - 70 GP, 39 G, 55 A, 94 PTS - Playoffs: 6 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 PTS
Age 30 - 82 GP, 50 G, 48 A, 98 PTS - Playoffs: 7 GP, 4 G, 5 A, 9 PTS
Age 31 - 82 GP, 35 G, 54 A, 89 PTS - Playoffs: 6 GP, 3 G, 1 A, 4 PTS - Messier Award
Age 32 - 82 GP, 32 G, 37 A, 69 PTS
Age 33 - 82 GP, 43 G, 43 A, 86 PTS
Age 34 - 82 GP, 32 G, 35 A, 67 PTS
Age 35 - 44 GP, 14 G, 19 A, 33 PTS - Playoffs: 15 GP, 4 G, 8 A, 12 PTS
Age 36 - 78 GP, 30 G, 31 A, 61 PTS - Playoffs: 12 GP, 5 G, 2 A, 7 PTS
Age 37 - 82 GP, 29 G, 30 A, 59 PTS
Age 38 - 82 GP, 22 G, 25 A, 47 PTS
Age 39 - 80 GP, 14 G, 13 A, 27 PTS
Totals - 928 GP, 375 G, 422 A, 797 PTS - Playoffs: 53 GP, 23 G, 21 A, 44 PTS

Iginla loses a season right in the middle of his prime due to the lockout. He remains a very durable player throughout these years and wins the Messier Award.

Matthews will have the better age 27 season (he will actually play) and likely age 28 season. Iginla has some very strong seasons from age 29-36, especially from 29-31 and again at 33. It will be interesting to see how Matthews ages.

The game is a lot more than just points. Iggy contributed with a physical presence that Matthews doesn’t. Iggy was extremely hard to play against. Matthews isn’t.Matthews is a great goal scorer, but if not scoring what is he co contributing to winning?

 

[mr figgles]

At 26 Iginla carried a team of scrubs to game 7 of the cup finals. At 26 Matthews was shitting all over himself in another first round exit.

 

[cneely]

Don't ever list the Frito Lay Messier Ego Award as evidence of anything. It's literally voted on by one guy. Listing that as an accomplishment is barely a step above saying "His mom thinks he's a great player!"

Guess Mathhew's mom doesn't love him.

 

[cneely]

The game is a lot more than just points. Iggy contributed with a physical presence that Matthews doesn’t. Iggy was extremely hard to play against. Matthews isn’t.Matthews is a great goal scorer, but if not scoring what is he co contributing to winning?

And maybe some context lol. Look at the era and the rest of the rosters. In '04, Craig Conroy was 2nd in scoring on the Flames with 47 points.

 

[McVespa99]

If Im choosing a player for my team its Iginla. Matthews is obviously the better goal scorer although Iginla was no slouch.

 

[Oilslick941611]

Matthews can shoot. Thats it. He doesn't elevate his game when it matter, he doesn't make his team mates better, he doesn't create plays, he doesn't fight his battles, and he doesn't have heart.

Ignla was better player in every metric that makes a hockey player. Ignla was putting up 30-50 goals in an era where 30-50 goals was on par 50-70 goals.

 

[La Bamba]

Toronto’s main God is generally better but I’d rather have Iggy for a playoff run

 

[frontsfan2005]

The game is a lot more than just points. Iggy contributed with a physical presence that Matthews doesn’t. Iggy was extremely hard to play against. Matthews isn’t.Matthews is a great goal scorer, but if not scoring what is he co contributing to winning?

Right, but at the same time of their careers:
Iginla - Totals: 626 GP, 250 G, 253 A, 503 PTS - Playoffs: 28 GP, 14 G, 10 A, 24 PTS
Matthews - Totals: 562 GP, 368 G, 281 A, 649 PTS - Playoffs: 55 GP, 23 G, 25 A, 48 PTS

Matthews has scored 118 more goals and 146 more points in 64 less games.
Matthews received Selke votes in 2017 (38th), 2020 (16th), 2021 (27th), 2022 (10th), 2023 (14th) and 2024 (3rd).
Iginla received Selke votes in 2002 (14th) and 2004 (34th). Iginla would also receive votes in 2008 (48th), 2009 (35th) and 2012 (43th).

I know Iggy is more physical and harder to play against, etc. but it's hard to ignore Matthews offensive production is much higher than Iginla's, plus he's reached as high as 3rd in Selke voting over Iginla's peak of 14th.