Who Would You Rather Have Going Forward? Drai or Matthews

[6ix]

“The man on his team who doesn’t show up in the playoffs” vs “Not the man on his team who shows up in the playoffs.”

The same argument can be applied to Rantanen or Makar/MacKinnon (whoever you deem is the worse player). Until we see what the worse of the two can do without the other. There will always be ????

This, in fact, applies to every good player who plays with another I guess.

It has more to do with their power play going absolutely cold in the playoffs. If you switched Matthews and Draisaitl, you’d see Matthews playoff numbers jump and Draisaitl’s decline.

As good as players Marner and Nylander are, they’re not Mcdavid. No one is.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Draisaitl. As much as I dog on that guy, I've seen what he can do even as a wounded gazelle.

 

[PuckG]

It has more to do with their power play going absolutely cold in the playoffs. If you switched Matthews and Draisaitl, you’d see Matthews playoff numbers jump and Draisaitl’s decline.

As good as players Marner and Nylander are, they’re not Mcdavid. No one is.

If the Leafs power play went cold in the playoffs, Matthews - as the bonafide #1 player on his team - is amongst the main parties responsible for it.

Everyone loves hypotheticals on here so here’s another one: Draisaitl playing with Marner and Nylander compared to guys like Foegele on a regular basis would absolutely see his regular season and playoff numbers jump whereas Matthews playing with the wingers the Oilers had previously provided Draisaitl would see a decline.

 

[authentic]

OIGF% (all strengths) in playoffs.

- Draisaitl: 156-90 (63%).

- McDavid: 167-81 (67%)

- Matthews: 64-43 (60%)

OIGF% (5v5)

- Draisaitl: 79-64 (55%)

- McDavid: 87-57 (60%)

- Matthews: 36-32 (53%)

Looks like Matthews is the worst of the bunch. The vast majority of his is in the 1st round as well.





Draisaitl is at 1.46 PPG over the last 5 years, 2nd in that time. Matthews at 1.27, good for 6th. McDavid at 1.70. And the gulf is even wider in the playoffs.

Draisaitl is closer to McDavid than Matthews is to Draisaitl.

That’s playing with McDavid a ton though. I still agree Draisaitl has easily been the better playoff performer though but Matthews is vastly better defensively.

 

[6ix]

If the Leafs power play went cold in the playoffs, Matthews - as the bonafide #1 player on his team - is amongst the main parties responsible for it.

Everyone loves hypotheticals on here so here’s another one: Draisaitl playing with Marner and Nylander compared to guys like Foegele on a regular basis would absolutely see his regular season and playoff numbers jump whereas Matthews playing with the wingers the Oilers had previously provided Draisaitl would see a decline.

It has more to do with their inability to gain the zone and get setup. They really struggle with that in the playoffs when teams don’t back off the blue line to allow them to set up.

Mcdavid’s ability to gain the zone and collapse the D is a cheat code. Anytime I catch an oiler game I’d say 90% of the time it’s McDavid carrying the puck in on the PP. Nylander is probably the best one for the leafs but again, not even close to as good as McDavid.

Anyways to stay back on topic I’ve got no issue with anyone picking Draisaitl. If I was starting a team from scratch, with no McDavid, I would take Matthews as he’s a couple years younger.

 

[Fatass]

Only and correct answer is Matthews. Not even close (imo). Matthews is just the much better player. He actually plays the right way defensively. Big Leon cheats the game for offensive play. Not a fan of that kind of selfish play.

 

[Captain Controversy]

Only and correct answer is Matthews. Not even close (imo). Matthews is just the much better player. He actually plays the right way defensively. Big Leon cheats the game for offensive play. Not a fan of that kind of selfish play.

Nice try

 

[BB79]

Neutral fan voting Matthews. Almost a coin toss for me. I picked Matthews purely on bias.

If you have bias, doesn't that negate the "neutral" part?

 

[Plural]

If you have bias, doesn't that negate the "neutral" part?

That's the joke

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

Draisaitl gets it done. Matthews does not. Very easy choice here.

 

[Namikaze Minato]

Draisaitl gets it done. Matthews does not. Very easy choice here.

Draisaitl has never gotten it done, though. He got close but never got it done.

MacKinnon is an example of a player who got it done, as are Eichel and Barkov.

Matthews and Drai have not gotten it done.

 

[Fatass]

I wouldn’t classify myself as a neutral fan. To be honest, I intensely hate both these clubs. But even with hatred there can be respect. And for me I respect how Matthews plays the right way with and without the puck. He doesn’t cheat the game for offence. Draisatl is very poor defensively and even with that he still cheats on his defensive responsibilities to create offence. Matthews is by far the more complete player and leader.

 

[All Mod Cons]

You know hockey is right around the corner with the annual Draisaitl vs Matthews and Tkachuk vs Marner polls.

 

[Juxta Position]

Matthews. He is the man on his team. Until we see if drai is Drai without 97. There will always be ????

We did, and he won a Hart, Art Ross and Lindsay trophy.

Do peoples memories on this board erase after 12 months?