Where Does Auston Matthews Rank For You As A Goal Scorer All Time?

[Staniowski]

Better goal scorer than the guy who has the most goals of all time...?

Good joke man

Matthews is certainly a better goal-scorer than Gretzky. Gretzky's goal-scoring ability was very era-dependent. He had some difficulty adjusting to the better defenses of the late '80s and beyond.

Most natural goal-scorers can score well from close-range, mid-range, and long-range. But Gretzky was only really great at scoring from close-range. Guys like Lemieux and Bossy could score well from all three ranges. When many teams started playing better defense in the mid and late 1980s, Gretzky lost some of his opportunities to score close to the net. And he didn't have the speed (like Yzerman, Messier, or Lemieux) to beat defenders and move to the net.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Matthews is certainly a better goal-scorer than Gretzky. Gretzky's goal-scoring ability was very era-dependent. He had some difficulty adjusting to the better defenses of the late '80s and beyond.

Most natural goal-scorers can score well from close-range, mid-range, and long-range. But Gretzky was only really great at scoring from close-range. Guys like Lemieux and Bossy could score well from all three ranges. When many teams started playing better defense in the mid and late 1980s, Gretzky lost some of his opportunities to score close to the net. And he didn't have the speed (like Yzerman, Messier, or Lemieux) to beat defenders and move to the net.

Just not a serious opinion

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Matthews is a better goal scorer than jagr

 

[Calderon]

Nowhere as of now . For all I know he could retire early or fall off a cliff play wise or god forbid his career gets ended early . If he keeps it up at the rate he’s going he’ll be fairly high on the list provided he plays long enough. But for what it’s worth I don’t see him having ovi type longevity .

I understand that there's an awful lot of hockey left to be played in Matthews career but after this season he'll be comparable with Pavel Bure who's already mentioned in the OP and whom most would consider at least a top-15 all time goal scorer in the NHL. In terms of peak numbers and Rockets AM is already getting himself into some considerations of all time best rankings — as for the greatest, that discussion can be returned to in a few years' time.

 

[Divine]

He's probably top 11 in goal scoring assuming he wins the Rocket this year. It's harder to compare eras.

Currently, only 10 players in NHL history have led the league in goalscoring in 3 different seasons.

Auston Matthews has also led the league in even-strength scoring 4 times. He's currently leading the league in even-strength scoring again. If he leads it again, he'd be top 4 in that category - the record is 6 seasons (Bobby Hull), two players are currently tied for 5 seasons (Richard, Ovechkin).

If Matthews leads the league in even-strength goals again (currently leading by 8) - he'd just need 1 more season to tie the leader, 2 more to break the record.

 

[Krigsgaldr]

I understand that there's an awful lot of hockey left to be played in Matthew's career but after this season he'll be comparable with Pavel Bure who's already mentioned in the OP and whom most would consider at least a top-15 all time goal scorer in the NHL. In terms of peak numbers and Rockets AM is already getting himself into some considerations of all time best rankings — as for the greatest, that discussion can be returned to in a few years' time.

That’s a good point . But lol this is the where do you rank him . And I don’t yet . Totally cool if you do already . Idk maybe I’m superstitious with this kind of thing .

 

[NotASheep]

Since the 16/17 season

He has 29 more goals than Leon, 31 more than pasta. And ovi and 33 more than McDavid.

I realise this a thread to feed the egis of lead fans.

But of all those players listed and factoring all aspects of the game... all players are available in the same draft.

Who goes where and why

 

[TheBeastCoast]

he's a great scorer. but his biggest fans can be annoying in how persistent they are in seeking validation in their belief in how great he is, which brings him down to good.

I hope you realize this is a dumb opinion right? How annoying you find a fanbase doesn't actually change what Matthews does or doesn't do on the ice

 

[John Mandalorian]

Just behind Kobe Bryant.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

Has to avoid injuries and unexpected tail off but if he does, he’ll easily finish in the 5-10 range. A few exceptional seasons and he could push higher.

 

[authentic]

He's one of the best I've ever seen on capitalizing on freebies. Score 3-4 in a nothing game or easy W covers for the frequent no-shows in high stakes games. 'Goal scoring' vs. what he and his team have ultimately accomplished on the ice so far through his career (nothing) go hand in hand imo.

Very entertaining player. Will pad the stats for a very lucrative but ultimately underwhelming career. Ovechkin-lite.

This is funny because he’s actually the opposite of a stat padder. Very often he’ll light up good teams and not do so much against worse ones. Not to mention he doesn’t cheat for offense like a lot of other one dimensional goal scorers, infact you couldn’t name a single goal scorer of his caliber with his two-way game in modern NHL history. I also am not sure if your post is a joke either so maybe it doesn’t warrant a serious response.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Matthews is certainly a better goal-scorer than Gretzky. Gretzky's goal-scoring ability was very era-dependent. He had some difficulty adjusting to the better defenses of the late '80s and beyond.

Most natural goal-scorers can score well from close-range, mid-range, and long-range. But Gretzky was only really great at scoring from close-range. Guys like Lemieux and Bossy could score well from all three ranges. When many teams started playing better defense in the mid and late 1980s, Gretzky lost some of his opportunities to score close to the net. And he didn't have the speed (like Yzerman, Messier, or Lemieux) to beat defenders and move to the net.

HAHAHAHA there it is boys!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[authentic]

Don't have to think hard to see Top 20. Gets mirky after that. He's certainly not yet in that top tier:

Ovechkin, Gretzky, Lemieux, both Hulls, Bossy, Esposito, Howe, Jagr, Richard, Lafleur

After those guys stuff gets real murky because you have Selanne, Bure, Robitaille, Yzerman, Shanahan, Dionne, Gartner, Iginla, Kurri, Bondra, Mikita, Stamkos, McDavid, Crosby, definitely forgetting several more guys.

And like Jagr, Yzerman, etc some of these guys single season numbers might not jump out as much but they were clearly consistent producers and a case of COULD have had more 40+ whatever seasons if they just focused on that (like a Bondra, etc).

So Auston Matthews hasn't broken past that 2nd tier list by any stretch of the imagination to me at least. You can ignore the GPG numbers as several of the guys in the 2nd tier at one point had Top 10 in that category in their earlier years (Selanne was a .645 after his 3rd Rocket).

Except Selanne wasn’t the hands down best goal scorer of his era, quite the difference there.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

Again, it's entirely injury dependent and/or off spell but on current trajectory, he has a chance to become the second or third youngest ever to 500 goals. He COULD hit it by 28 but more likely by 29.

#1 is Gretzky at 25 years and 300 days.

#2 is Bossy at 28 years and 345 days.

I think everyone else was 30 or more.

 

[Auston Marlander]

Skill, top 5. Unfortunately skill alone doesn't make an all time goal scorer, he needs to keep this up for another 10ish years, and if he does, he'll be one of the all time great goal scorers, possibly #3 behind Gretzky and Ovi, since I doubt he has 12+ years of this left in him.

 

[Toby91ca]

Nowhere as of now . For all I know he could retire early or fall off a cliff play wise or god forbid his career gets ended early . If he keeps it up at the rate he’s going he’ll be fairly high on the list provided he plays long enough. But for what it’s worth I don’t see him having ovi type longevity .

He can still get pretty high on the list without OV longevity though, he just wouldn’t get to the top

 

[Toby91ca]

Skill, top 5. Unfortunately skill alone doesn't make an all time goal scorer, he needs to keep this up for another 10ish years, and if he does, he'll be one of the all time great goal scorers, possibly #3 behind Gretzky and Ovi, since I doubt he has 12+ years of this left in him.

Well, if he keeps his current pace for another 10 years and doesn’t miss games, he’s probably right around the goal scoring record….but that’s a HUGE if. I think that’s what makes what OV is doing special, there have been lots of guys that scored a ton of goals but you have to do it for so long to get to 800-900 goals….hes looking really well positioned now, but where will he end up. Gretzky was light years ahead of everyone and if nothing changed he was looking to push 1,200-1,300 goals (I didn’t do any math here I just know he had 500 at 25 years old)….anyway, either way, Matthews is clearly one of the best, how high on the all time list he’ll go is anyone’s guess at this point and it would be a total guess .

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

Except Selanne wasn’t the hands down best goal scorer of his era, quite the difference there.

…..and most those listed are wingers, who inherently have less responsibilities (which makes the “if they focused on” argument odd to begin with, without even looking at how high Matthews ranks defensively).

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

…..and most those listed are wingers, who inherently have less responsibilities (which makes the “if they focused on” argument odd to begin with, without even looking at how high Matthews ranks defensively).

Yeah, Matthews is already doing a ton of takeaways AND he's scoring at a 40+ goal pace a year.
Kid is unreal and will probably end in the top 20 all time. Wouldn't be surprised if he was the highest American goal scorer of all time, at the very least.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

Well, if he keeps his current pace for another 10 years and doesn’t miss games, he’s probably right around the goal scoring record….but that’s a HUGE if. I think that’s what makes what OV is doing special, there have been lots of guys that scored a ton of goals but you have to do it for so long to get to 800-900 goals….hes looking really well positioned now, but where will he end up. Gretzky was light years ahead of everyone and if nothing changed he was looking to push 1,200-1,300 goals (I didn’t do any math here I just know he had 500 at 25 years old)….anyway, either way, Matthews is clearly one of the best, how high on the all time list he’ll go is anyone’s guess at this point and it would be a total guess .

Yup, the trick is consistency over time. Where I think people get confused though is thinking you have to be a 50+ goal scorer for a long time. I always look at Mike Gartner. He sits #8 all time. What was his track record?

One season where he hit exactly 50 goals.

Eight seasons where he hit 40 to 49 (49, 48, 48, 45, 45, 41, 40, 40)

Eight seasons of 32 to 38 (38, 36, 35, 35, 35, 34, 32, 32)

Then a 12 and a 12.

So far Matthews seems to have shown that his floor is 40. The only two seasons he didn't hit it, he was on pace but missed games. If not for those missed games, by age 26 he would be one season short of matching Gartner's career total of 40+ goal seasons. Difference being Matthews seems to have the ability for multiple 50 + goals seasons and possibly 60 - 70.

He will eventually tail off but if the tail off is to the level of a 30 goal scorer, that puts him inside the top 10. All this barring injuries of course or strikes or something stupid.

 

[BraveCanadian]

Too early to tell. He's off to a great start though.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Matthews is certainly one of the best goal-scorers ever. He's a beautiful, pure scorer, like Bossy, Lemieux, Bure, Krutov, Maurice Richard.

Matthews is a better goal-scorer than guys like Howe, Lafleur, Gretzky, Yzerman, Crosby, McDavid.

You for the sarcasm emoji

 

[Golden_Jet]

Yup, the trick is consistency over time. Where I think people get confused though is thinking you have to be a 50+ goal scorer for a long time. I always look at Mike Gartner. He sits #8 all time. What was his track record?

One season where he hit exactly 50 goals.

Eight seasons where he hit 40 to 49 (49, 48, 48, 45, 45, 41, 40, 40)

Eight seasons of 32 to 38 (38, 36, 35, 35, 35, 34, 32, 32)

Then a 12 and a 12.

So far Matthews seems to have shown that his floor is 40. The only two seasons he didn't hit it, he was on pace but missed games. If not for those missed games, by age 26 he would be one season short of matching Gartner's career total of 40+ goal seasons. Difference being Matthews seems to have the ability for multiple 50 + goals seasons and possibly 60 - 70.

He will eventually tail off but if the tail off is to the level of a 30 goal scorer, that puts him inside the top 10. All this barring injuries of course or strikes or something stupid.

if your going down the pace rabbit hole, at least include the years Gartner paced for 40 goals as well,

 

[mphmiles]

Do you know how big an "IF" that is?

The list of players that managed to keep that pace for the back half of their career in the entire history of the NHL is 1 person.
OV

With Matthews averaging like 10gms missing every season, the odds of keeping up a .64g/gm well into his 30's is not good

I don't expect him to keep up his career rate for that long for sure. What I really meant by that is, if he continues to be one the best goal scorers in the league for that length of time, with what he's already accomplished, that puts him in a pretty elite group.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Again, it's entirely injury dependent and/or off spell but on current trajectory, he has a chance to become the second or third youngest ever to 500 goals. He COULD hit it by 28 but more likely by 29.

#1 is Gretzky at 25 years and 300 days.

#2 is Bossy at 28 years and 345 days.

I think everyone else was 30 or more.

I think you're correct - just Gretzky and Bossy got to 500 goals before their 30th birthdays.

As an aside - Lemieux was at 477 goals by the end of the 1993 season (at which point he was 27 and 6 months). It only took him 28 more games to score those 23 additional goals to get to 500. But, due to injuries and the lockout, that took him 2.5 years! (That was a few weeks past his 30th birthday).