Player Discussion Mike Matheson

[Rapala]

It's also why Florida and arguably Pittsburgh traded him, his production just wasn't there to justify the mental lapses, whereas for us we can justify it.

They had better options we don't...
Yet.
What would Matheson's numbers look like with no top PP minutes?
It's then that his errors would put him in a bad light.
Not to disparage what he's done other than to say it won't be good enough if and when we are ready to compete.

 

[Skip Bayless]

 

[Mrb1p]

Man needs to décalisse

 

[JianYang]

Matheson appears to be the scapegoat lately. And people criticize coaches for using him too much.

What I don’t get is we have no top pairing defensemen. So someone will have to play too many minutes ? Who should it be ? Guhle ? Struble ?

People say all the time that overplaying young players can expose them and kill their confidence.

Matheson is being overused because someone has to and he is the most mature player and it won’t break him.

I don’t understand why people complain about Matheson while it is clear he is doing his best to fill in a spot he should have to.

I'd rather overburden the veterans than the young guys, and the veterans are in short supply.

I agree with you.

 

[JianYang]

Matheson is a more gifted skater and puck handler than Brisebois ever was. More points too.

A better Brisebois comparable is Justin Barron. Two talented right side d-men for whom the whole is somehow less than the sum of its parts. Both tall, fluid skaters given to running around in their own zone. Both with the innate ability to fall down at exactly the worst time.

The only thing that brisebois did better than Matheson was passing. His outlets were silky when he wasn't shooting himself in his own foot, and that passing also allowed him to run a better PP than Matheson can IMO.

 

[Habs]

Peter Svoboda 2.0

 

[Don D]

Matheson is a more gifted skater and puck handler than Brisebois ever was. More points too.

A better Brisebois comparable is Justin Barron. Two talented right side d-men for whom the whole is somehow less than the sum of its parts. Both tall, fluid skaters given to running around in their own zone. Both with the innate ability to fall down at exactly the worst time.

Good comparaison!

 

[Forum93]

Peter Svoboda 2.0

Matheson's better when it comes to goal scoring but Svoboda was way better defensively, and still produced similar point totals.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Matheson is a great stop gap. He is no way a #1 D but until the kids are truly ready you need guys like him eating big minutes.
He is an ideal #3 on a contender.

Yep, stopgap is right.

2nd pair is his ideal chair. We’re using him as cannon fodder while our younger guys develop.

 

[Sam I Am]

Barron is playing within expectations for his age, though. And the hope is he matures his d game. Whereas Breezy never did and was just as bad defensively at 29 as he was at 21-22, thus the Matheson comparison. But I do agree 100% on your comments about the stylistic differences between them and the similarities between Barron and Breezy. 100% spot on.

I think the one thing in common with Matheson and the Breezer is that they were both thrust into the no.1 slot by virtue of their substantial contracts and the fact that there wasn't anything better on the Hab's blue line at the time. Other than that I think that Barron and Brisebois are better comparables.

I too hope Barron settles down as time goes by.

 

[RabbleMasterBlaster]

Breeze-by (his nickname by us fans back then, lol) was not good defensively, but IMO, much better than Matheson. He was good for one major gaffe every game or so. Matheson seems to have multiple major gaffes every game. So I'd say it's roughly the same offset gain. But that's just my perspective based on old memories and aging brain-cells, lol.

Breezeby wasnt physical in the slightest and was not a good defense man. But he was also being asked a lot more than he should have and fans were unfairly harsh towards him. But at no point was he as bad as Matheson is. Matheson is Patrick Traverse level bad defensively. With MAB level offense. Minus the slap shot

Ya he's "no slapper MAB".

 

[LesCanadiens]

Breezeby wasnt physical in the slightest and was not a good defense man. But he was also being asked a lot more than he should have and fans were unfairly harsh towards him. But at no point was he as bad as Matheson is. Matheson is Patrick Traverse level bad defensively. With MAB level offense. Minus the slap shot

Ya he's "no slapper MAB".

Patrick Traverse, ugh...just when I'd forgotten about him, lol. But statement is true. MAB was another terrible "defender".

 

[Sam I Am]

Breezeby wasnt physical in the slightest and was not a good defense man. But he was also being asked a lot more than he should have and fans were unfairly harsh towards him. But at no point was he as bad as Matheson is. Matheson is Patrick Traverse level bad defensively. With MAB level offense. Minus the slap shot

Ya he's "no slapper MAB".

We'll have to agree to disagree.

Patrick Traverse was perhaps the worst defence man to play for the Habs in my lifetime. He was Normand Barron bad. Matheson is way better than Traverse in every possible aspect of the game. It's ridiculous to argue otherwise.

MAB was quite mediocre both defensively and offensively with a single notable exception--his shot. It was a bomb. World class. He did not possess Matheson's skating or puck skills.

 

[JeffreyLFC]

Breezeby wasnt physical in the slightest and was not a good defense man. But he was also being asked a lot more than he should have and fans were unfairly harsh towards him. But at no point was he as bad as Matheson is. Matheson is Patrick Traverse level bad defensively. With MAB level offense. Minus the slap shot

Ya he's "no slapper MAB".

Nah Traverse and MAB are the worst defender in Habs history. Out of touch.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Breezeby wasnt physical in the slightest and was not a good defense man. But he was also being asked a lot more than he should have and fans were unfairly harsh towards him. But at no point was he as bad as Matheson is. Matheson is Patrick Traverse level bad defensively. With MAB level offense. Minus the slap shot

Ya he's "no slapper MAB".

I'm not going to argue he hasn't been bad defensively, but this is a hilariously awful take. MAB was one of the worst D-men defensively in the NHL over his career, to the point that multiple teams only used him on the PP and tried him at forward 5v5.

Monahan isn't even the worst D-man defensively in the division, let alone worse than MAB.

 

[Mrb1p]

Yep, stopgap is right.

2nd pair is his ideal chair. We’re using him as cannon fodder while our younger guys develop.

Hes playing 2nd pair right now, Guhle and lately, Struble have both faced the tougher matchups. Matheson is deployed in a similar manner to Desharnais back in the days, his ozone starts are through the roof, his QOC isnt high, hes playing with the best lines, etc.

Also hes never been a 2nd pair guy before this year.

 

[26Mats]

Nah Traverse and MAB are the worst defender in Habs history. Out of touch.

Worse than Brandon Davidson?

 

[V13]

Nah Traverse and MAB are the worst defender in Habs history. Out of touch.

At least MAB at that canon of a slap shot and could be somewhat useful on a 2nd PP wave. It's not much but it's something.

Traverse had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The guy was just brutal in every facet of the game. He is my GOAT worst D without any hesitation

 

[Habssince89]

Wow I think the Matheson hate is going too far. He's actually an asset to the team, but he's taking one for the team right now eating minutes. Definitely a player that is prone to some bonehead plays, but he's far from a scrub.

 

[Rapala]

I don't see how anyone can watch what happened on that 4v3 against the Rangers and not be a tad bit concerned about his game.
Not only did he mess up offensively because he lacks vision or has issues moving pucks to the right.
Force feeding Caufield who is terrible in tight spaces became a huge defensive issue.
If it was only a one time occurrence...

 

[Mrb1p]

Wow I think the Matheson hate is going too far. He's actually an asset to the team, but he's taking one for the team right now eating minutes. Definitely a player that is prone to some bonehead plays, but he's far from a scrub.

Eating the easy PP minutes? Where is that misconception that matheson is getting the short end of the stick coming from? Do you guys not watch the games at all? He plays the easiest minutes there is to play. Guhle plays more at ES than Matheson and he gets a lot less Ozone starts than him.

 

[Rapala]

Eating the easy PP minutes? Where is that misconception that matheson is getting the short end of the stick coming from? Do you guys not watch the games at all? He plays the easiest minutes there is to play. Guhle plays more at ES than Matheson and he gets a lot less Ozone starts than him.

Just some of the details this production starved fan base are willing to/or just plain can't see...
tend to overlook.

 

[Mrb1p]

I don't see how anyone can watch what happened on that 4v3 against the Rangers and not be a tad bit concerned about his game.
Not only did he mess up offensively because he lacks vision or has issues moving pucks to the right.
Force feeding Caufield who is terrible in tight spaces became a huge defensive issue.
If it was only a one time occurrence...

Hes second in the league for defensive zone giveaways for crying out loud. I cannot believe my eyes how people just shrug off his terrible ass play.

Last year he finished third, on pace for 28 more than the 2nd worse in the league, un autre piment bien connus, Kovacevic.

Third in the league in defensive zone giveaways while he played 48 games, can you guys wrap your head around that?

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Hes second in the league for defensive zone giveaways for crying out loud. I cannot believe my eyes how people just shrug off his terrible ass play.

Last year he finished third, on pace for 28 more than the 2nd worse in the league, un autre piment bien connus, Kovacevic.

Third in the league in defensive zone giveaways while he played 48 games, can you guys wrap your head around that?

Giveaway takeaway stats vary wildly from arena to arena. They aren’t consistent across the league. And it’s usually puck owners who lead the way.

Anyways dude, he’s not part of the long term plan.

 

[Mrb1p]

Giveaway takeaway stats vary wildly from arena to arena. They aren’t consistent across the league. And it’s usually puck owners who lead the way.

Anyways dude, he’s not part of the long term plan.

He can be not part of the long term plan and also not be some kind of "insulation" for younger players lol.