Yasuo
Registered User
- Sep 7, 2016
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Matthews, as he's already scored 40 and proven that last year was not a fluke, but a sign of things to come.
McKinnon needs to do this more than one year to prove it's not an aberration.
recency bias, but 76 points in 56 games
is a stronger argument than 40 goals last season
A guy in his fifth year in the league vs a guy in his second year in the league. A guy who's first four seasons do not come even remotely close to what the other guy did in his first. A guy who is now having an incredible season vs a guy who is playing very well but struggling with injuries. Mackinnon is arguably the best player in the NHL this year, but I'm taking Matthews.
You are aware that they had nearly identical rookie seasons despite MacK being almost a year younger, correct?
73 points in 89 games for MacKinnon vs 74 points in 88 games for Matthews; MacK had a rough & injury ravaged sophomore season, before injuries ended the PPG pace he started his third season at, but they had almost identical rookie years and MacK has now hit a level that Matthews could have a great career without ever hitting.
Mackinnon had an excellent rookie season where he scored 63 points (24g, 39a), but don't try and tell me that it was "nearly" identical to Matthews scoring 69 points with 40g. I don't know why you would bring up age, because if you want to compare age equivalent seasons, Mackinnon's 38p in 64 games (which paces out 49p) is very clearly behind. Your guy has had four years in the league where he was clearly behind Matthews in just about every conceivable aspect of the game. This year he has blossomed into an unreal superstar but that doesn't change that you're comparing your guy in his career year (so far) to our guy in an injury plagued sophomore season. It is actually possible that Mackinnon might stay the best player in the league for the next 10 years and Matthews may never hit the high that Mack has. Sure, possible.
they were nearly identical in terms of raw numbers, but MacKinnon benefited from a way higher oish% and was 4th on his team in points and goals, rather than 1st like Matthews. Goal scoring also wasn't close. And Matthews was in the top 20 in points, Mac wasn't even in the top 30You're ignoring their entire rookie seasons. Matthews had 1 more point in one less game. That is nearly identical.
And I brought up MacK's age to remind people of the raw talent he has always had. His experience is being used against him with the implication that he's only better now because of the extra polish that he has gotten which Matthews has yet to benefit from...but the fact that MacK was just as good, despite being a year younger, when he entered the league & started to get that polish should illustrate that their raw talent was very comparable even before both started getting their talent polished in the NHL.
Hopefully that made sense, though re-reading it I'm not so sure that it'll be as clear to others as it is in my head...
they were nearly identical in terms of raw numbers, but MacKinnon benefited from a way higher oish% and was 4th on his team in points and goals, rather than 1st like Matthews. Goal scoring also wasn't close. And Matthews was in the top 20 in points, Mac wasn't even in the top 30
Matthews didn't start the year with scrubs, but he did play 40% of the year with Hyman and Brown as his linematesMatthews also didn't have to start his rookie season on the third line centering McGinn & Parenteau before being paired with talented players, nor did Matthews' break Gretzky's record for longest rookie pointstreak or go over PPG in the playoffs when his team needed him most *dunno*
I'm not saying MacK's rookie year was better or more impressive, only that they were comparable...especially when accounting for MacK being almost a whole year younger & less physically developed.
Mackinnon is having a hell of a year in his 4th yr. So let's compare him to Matthews who in his second year has run into injury trouble...makes sense.
Matthews is a top goal scoring center and a beast defensively. I take Matthews.