Player Discussion Mike Matheson

[JianYang]

This I know but it isn't the point I'm trying to make.
Suzuki has to skate close to 200 ft just to set up that drop shit.
This is even before he winds up his speed to carry the puck back the other way.
Is this the best use of his energy because I don't buy it.
I want him expending that energy at the other end of the rink.
Someone else needs to take on that task and preferably someone who can remain more stationary.
Suzuki and stationary = bad PP.

Not so concerned about him being gassed from that, but the thing I don't like about it is that it seems to me that this move burns more pp time in getting set up as opposed to other entry schemes.

That's just a feeling though. I may be wrong.

 

[Captain Mountain]

there are lots of NHL defensemen playing in the wrong spot in their team's depth chart, and yet no one makes the insanely bad plays (and, to be fair, amazing ones) on such a routine basis. that's the difference imo

You really need to watch more teams if you think this is true.

 

[Rapala]

Not so concerned about him being gassed from that, but the thing I don't like about it is that it seems to me that this move burns more pp time in getting set up as opposed to other entry schemes.

That's just a feeling though. I may be wrong.

It's both.
I watch a lot of other teams execute their PP and very rarely do their top weapons haul the mail to the extent we ask Suzuki to do it.
When they drop it is shallower and generally two players are coming back in tandem it's not a solitary move like we opt for.

 

[Non Player Canadiens]

You really need to watch more teams if you think this is true.

you might be right, i don't watch a lot of hockey outside of the Habs. who should i be looking at? to be clear i'm looking for someone who routinely makes extremely stupid gaffes as an offensive defenseman.

(edit) to be more specific, someone routinely elects to make the lower-percentage play when a much easier option is available, to disastrous results

 

[Captain Mountain]

you might be right, i don't watch a lot of hockey outside of the Habs. who should i be looking at? to be clear i'm looking for someone who routinely makes extremely stupid gaffes as an offensive defenseman.

(edit) to be more specific, someone routinely elects to make the lower-percentage play when a much easier option is available, to disastrous results

If that's your definition of what Matheson does, off the top of my head:

-Rielly
-Chabot
-Letang
-Werenski

Matheson isn't unique, although his circumstances may be. He's not a top pair guy, but considering the quality of Montreal's roster singling out Matheson in the entire NHL seems distinctly unfair.

 

[dcyhabs]

Not so concerned about him being gassed from that, but the thing I don't like about it is that it seems to me that this move burns more pp time in getting set up as opposed to other entry schemes.

That's just a feeling though. I may be wrong.

Plus they give up really good chances when it doesn't work. It's high risk and I'm not convinced of the upside, though the power play is better than it was.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

You really need to watch more teams if you think this is true.

People have no idea.

No problem with anyone saying he’s a defensive liability. But he’s not useless defensively and he brings a lot to the table offensively.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

you might be right, i don't watch a lot of hockey outside of the Habs. who should i be looking at? to be clear i'm looking for someone who routinely makes extremely stupid gaffes as an offensive defenseman.

(edit) to be more specific, someone routinely elects to make the lower-percentage play when a much easier option is available, to disastrous results

He definitely makes dumb decisions and unforced errors. You’re not wrong, he’s not great defensively and he does sometimes look absolutely terrible. But he’s not worst in the league either.

 

[Habssince89]

Matheson is capable of VERY good defensive plays, especially on the rush, but overall he's not good defensively. There's definitely wayyyyy worse Dmen. His skating makes him so-so, which given his production is fine.

 

[Non Player Canadiens]

oh, hey guys

 

[Justin11]

He was terrible tonight.

 

[Pomee]

Matheson is a selfish idiot!
All his skills are for nothing when he has no brain!

 

[sampollock]

Matheson is a selfish idiot!
All his skills are for nothing when he has no brain!

Trade him....
Let's all stop saying the habs can't

 

[Canadienna]

I want to get him on the "vision" training Slaf did in the summer with those shades.

Seems like a similar issue in that he sometimes lacks awareness of what's going on in his peripherals.

I might get crucified for this because he's still making mistakes, but I thought he's been better the last few games with defensive blunders.

 

[Pomee]

-27
The worst on the team!
Thats all you need to know about how bad of a defensman he is!


He can make highlights reel goal once in a while, but his awful mistakes resulting in a goals against, his constant missing the net from the blue line shots, his blue line puck bobbling, his poor poor PP performance, his ignoring open players, his selfish decisions like last game, thats what is an epitome of a player who doesnt play for the team but only for himself.
Habs will be simply a better team without him!

 

[Mrb1p]

You have people that just want to defend Habs at all costs. Its okay to admit this player is a turd, and it's okay, were rebuilding, not every player is gonna be good.

 

[26Mats]

If that's your definition of what Matheson does, off the top of my head:

-Rielly
-Chabot
-Letang
-Werenski

Matheson isn't unique, although his circumstances may be. He's not a top pair guy, but considering the quality of Montreal's roster singling out Matheson in the entire NHL seems distinctly unfair.

Watching Werenski the other night I thought of Matheson.

Letang improved his defensive game as his career went on. So he's in a different tier.

I haven't watched Rielly or Chabot much the last two years. It sounds like Rielly is better defensively. Not sure about Chabot. But Chabot has more development to do than Matheson, we would think.

Matheson has taken his offensive game to another level. Anyway you slice it, he's not playing on a top 10 offensive team in the league, yet he's top 10 in scoring for dmen.

Now it's time for him to focus on figuring out how to take his defensive game to another level. Sometimes the mistakes he makes seem avoidable.

 

[Skip Bayless]

Please have one of those doodoo games tonight

 

[JianYang]

-27
The worst on the team!
Thats all you need to know about how bad of a defensman he is!


He can make highlights reel goal once in a while, but his awful mistakes resulting in a goals against, his constant missing the net from the blue line shots, his blue line puck bobbling, his poor poor PP performance, his ignoring open players, his selfish decisions like last game, thats what is an epitome of a player who doesnt play for the team but only for himself.
Habs will be simply a better team without him!

He's not really part of the future, and he will get dealt at some point.... as early as next year is my guess as most of the defensive unit will be into their 3rd season by then.

I think some people go a bit extreme about how terrible he is, but he's got some usefulness in this league....he just needs to be in the right chair. The situation here is that there is only one other veteran dman on the team, and the top chair happened to be vacant upon his arrival.

Frankly, for all the depth that the Habs have on defense, it's still very questionable whether they have that future top chair guy currently on the team or in the pipeline. I see multiple #2-4 guys potentially.

Hutson maybe has the biggest upside for that role but his floor is also lower than some of those 2-4 potential guys.

 

[tnq]

a better skater

Are you serious ?

 

[Mrb1p]

Are you serious ?

Yes, do you own a pair of eyes ? Guhle is the fastest skater on the Habs and his backwards skating may be the best in the league.

They both are top percentile forward skaters, Guhle is just next level in backwards skating and a much more explosive skater. He's one of the only defender in the league that could handle a shift with McDavid. Not something Matheson could do.

 

[JianYang]

Yes, do you own a pair of eyes ? Guhle is the fastest skater on the Habs and his backwards skating may be the best in the league.



View attachment 837015

They both are top percentile forward skaters, Guhle is just next level in backwards skating and a much more explosive skater. He's one of the only defender in the league that could handle a shift with McDavid. Not something Matheson could

Guhle is a fantastic skater, and it not just straight line speed... it's that agility. No surprise there.

But Dvorak up there, and to a lesser extent, dach is kinda of shocking. Dvorak seems like a very vanilla skater to the eye. Dach is faster but I guess since he likes to slow the play down, you don't always see that speed.

 

[Mrb1p]

Horrible all.f***ing night. Bad offensively and terribad defensively. No redeeming qualities.

You know how much I hated Drano? I wouldve never wanted Danault.off the team. He was an ideal 3C/good 2C being a star C (which is probably ironically what Suzuki is).

Matheson should be nowhere near a competing team. Not even as a bottom pairing D

 

[The Great Weal]

I'm not going to harp on him too much, he's playing 5 minutes more per game than he should. It's not his fault we got nobody else for now.

 

[Andrei79]

I'm not going to harp on him too much, he's playing 5 minutes more per game than he should. It's not his fault we got nobody else for now.

He's an entertaining player, but man is he dumb sometimes. He's all skills. He's what a lot of people said Subban was. But Subban was more of an inconsistent and lackadaisical player at times, not an outright deficient player. When he was on, he was a machine both offensively and defensively. He had good vision and great passing too. Matheson plays with blinders on.