Why is Auston Matthews considered a top 10 player?

[Kiwi]

Tbh I'm an Oiler fan but looking at it neutrally, Leaf fans are more obsessed with McDavid (As in constantly pairing Matthews with McDavid when other people don't care).

Did you look at who started this thread by any chance?

 

[A1LeafNation]

Tbh I'm an Oiler fan but looking at it neutrally, Leaf fans are more obsessed with McDavid (As in constantly pairing Matthews with McDavid when other people don't care).

Really because it seems like all the bitter fans of the non playoff teams have come from the woodwork to compare someone to Matthews because they have nothing better to look forward to this season

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

GMs actually watch more than just Leafs games, so I bet they would

All I can tell you is I'd gladly have that submitted to them as a private poll and doubt I'd be surprised at the answer. I have a feeling it would resemble the Calder vote which many were sure would be close.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

When one player has 45 points in 40 games and one has 31 in 30 you’d have to be pretty bad at math to think number of games played is the reason for the points difference. Wheeler is the best player on the Jets, who are better team than the Leafs. Not sure why Toronto fans are discounting him so much.

They are actually dead even in winning percentage.

 

[Craig Button]

Tbh I'm an Oiler fan but looking at it neutrally, Leaf fans are more obsessed with McDavid (As in constantly pairing Matthews with McDavid when other people don't care).

Nope.

 

[Riddum]

Because he has more potential than McDavid

 

[Empoleon8771]

It's because of who he plays for. I don't see much that separates Eichel and Matthews except for Eichel playing for an awful team. Sure, Matthews is better defensively, but it's not by an insane amount.

I think it's insanely debatable for whether Matthews is a top-10 center, let alone top-10 player. I have Crosby, Malkin, Backstrom, McDavid, Barkov, Scheifele, Getzlaf and Stamkos at least better than Matthews, that leaves other centers like Seguin, Bergeron, Eichel and Tavares as debatable with Matthews too.

 

[PhilJets]

Sure thing. I'll do the trio.

Wheeler: 8 G, 30 A, 38 Pts
Scheifele: 14 G, 20 A, 34 Pts
Laine: 15 G, 11 A, 26 Pts

When did you get this stats?

 

[PhilJets]

I take Wheeler now , probably most GM if they are going for a cup run this year.

2 years time onwards. Matthews for sure.

 

[authentic]

Is he though?

His assist totals are quite low for the amount of games he's played. His playmaking is one of his weaker traits, he's just such a prolific goal scorer that this gets ignored.

He's by far the best shooter on the ice, it makes sense that others look to set him up more than he does, but he does that a lot anyway, he just plays with really bad goal scorers. Also more powerplay time and ice time in general compared to the other top scorers in the league would boost his assist totals as well. He had almost as many goals in his first NHL game than his two main linemates have this season. Questioning his playmaking ability when all I said was he's very good there and not elite makes me think you probably don't see him play often enough.

 

[Eternal Leaf]

When did you get this stats?

Those stats are for their first 30 games this season.

 

[JetsHomer]

They are actually dead even in winning percentage.

I’ve been told by at least a dozen Leafs fans that winning% doesn’t matter and all that matters is points. The Jets are on pace for 8 more points than the Leafs with the same number of wins (last season the Leafs finished with 8 more points and the same number of wins as the Jets and Leafs fans insisted their teams was ‘far superior’)

 

[The List Of Jericho]

Why is Auston Matthews considered a top-ten, even top-five player already? Obviously he had an incredible rookie season, but having him rated above guys like Stamkos, Schiefele, etc is unjustified imo. I will name all the forwards I think are better than him.

(In no order)

McDavid
Stamkos
Kucherov
Crosby
Malkin
Ovechkin
Tarasenko
Tavares
Benn
Backstrom
Kane
Gaudreau
Schiefele
Wheeler

Just of the top of my head. In the future Matthews could pass most of these guys, but why is he already considered so great? Toronto Bias?

A ton of those guys didn’t have the rookie season that Matthews had...in fact many took 3 or 4 seasons to get there. Just watch the kid play consistently, he does things effortlessly. The second goal against Vegas his ease in which he scored that was surreal. The media bias things is baloney btw, guys like Dreger and Mckenzie don’t call it like they don’t see it. What other Leafs get that kind of top level hype?

 

[BlueBaron]

I’ve been told by at least a dozen Leafs fans that winning% doesn’t matter and all that matters is points. The Jets are on pace for 8 more points than the Leafs with the same number of wins (last season the Leafs finished with 8 more points and the same number of wins as the Jets and Leafs fans insisted their teams was ‘far superior’)

So in short, they are doing a tiny bit better right now and just lost their #1 C, while we just got ours back. How much value does that projection really have? More importantly, who gives a crap? The teams are so close its hard to objectively say one is better than the other. Just enjoy your team, it's good.

 

[M2Beezy]

Canucks fan here saying maybe OP needs to watch Leafs games and compare to non Leafs games to see how special Matthews is. I wanted him so bad pre 2016 draft but happy the Leafs got him and then watched a few games this year and have been super impressed with how involved in everything he is. And in a positive way as hes so hockey smart

In NO WAY is he not top ten

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

He's not a top 10 player but he will be very soon.

 

[Petrus]

I take Wheeler now , probably most GM if they are going for a cup run this year.

2 years time onwards. Matthews for sure.

It’s not a clear cut response. It will depend on team needs. If we take a look at the current contenders: Nashville, Tampa Bay, Boston, Kings, Washington, St Louis, who would they take for the cup run if their goal is to win in the next two years.

That would be an interesting poll.

 

[klmdg]

Man, these threads are like clockwork with the same handful of Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary and Boston fans.

Could that have anything to do with the fact the Matthews’ era Leafs are 15-2 against your teams and you guys have been outscored 66-37 in those games?

 

[Plub]

It' weird, I only see this argument on HF. Generally from insecure Oiler fans or Canadians that only like Canadian players.

Nationally he's always put side by side with McDavid. Coyotes' coach just last week went out of his way to point out that after his rookie season he is neck and neck with McDavid.

What is it that makes HF the outlier?

Essentially, if you have McDavid at 1 and can't find space for Matthews in the top 5 you're probably coming in with a bias.

 

[Plub]

Does anyone credible say Matthews is better than Stamkos or Kucherov?

If not, who cares what random fans on a web site think?

Many analysts, coaches, GMs have said he's right next to McDavid, but I've rarely heard him in discussion with Stamkos and Much.

 

[authentic]

It's because of who he plays for. I don't see much that separates Eichel and Matthews except for Eichel playing for an awful team. Sure, Matthews is better defensively, but it's not by an insane amount.

I think it's insanely debatable for whether Matthews is a top-10 center, let alone top-10 player. I have Crosby, Malkin, Backstrom, McDavid, Barkov, Scheifele, Getzlaf and Stamkos at least better than Matthews, that leaves other centers like Seguin, Bergeron, Eichel and Tavares as debatable with Matthews too.

Lol what. Tavares is better than some of those guys you mentioned and so is Matthews. Also Matthews vs Eichel is not debatable. I am not sure how someone can watch these two players enough and think they are on the same level, the team argument is crap.

 

[authentic]

Many analysts, coaches, GMs have said he's right next to McDavid, but I've rarely heard him in discussion with Stamkos and Much.

The funny thing is Matthews is better than Stamkos. Stamkos has him beat cleanly on the powerplay but he is in no way a better even strength player..

 

[Empoleon8771]

Lol what. Tavares is better than some of those guys you mentioned and so is Matthews. Also Matthews vs Eichel is not debatable. I am not sure how someone can watch these two players enough and think they are on the same level, the team argument is crap.

Who is Matthews better than in the group I mentioned? Because I'm really not seeing anyone there. Based on what is Matthews vs Eichel not debatable? Because you say so?

You're really supporting my thought that Matthews is insanely overrated. McDavid, Crosby, Malkin, Stamkos, Barkov and Backstrom are clearly better than Matthews. I'd take Getzlaf over Matthews because of track record and I also think Getzlaf is better defensively and offensively. Scheifele is better offensively than Matthews by a pretty healthy margin right now.

 

[Bleedred]

I don't really consider him a top 10 player in the league YET, but when you're on this forum and the same could be said for discussion in most any sports, the ''Top 10'' lists seem to wildly fluctuate.

Like the John Chayka talk from a few months back. He was being talked up as a top 5 GM around here. Then Arizona has gotten off to a historically bad start, and people wanna forget that anyone was ever even ranking Chayka higher than the 25th best GM in the league.

Goalies are the same thing. The top of 10 of them fluctuates by the week or month on here. On any given day on this forum, depending when the current discussion is started, there's up to 25-28 different goalies being called ''Top 10 goalies'' throughout an entire season. Like Martin Jones, who is average at best, he's in the top 10 on many of these lists. Then you look at another one of them and you see Carey Price at the top. Then he has one bad season and he's knocked down to 27th. You look at one for one month, Ben Bishop is on there, then the next month, he's 29th.

 

[doorbag]

The funny thing is Matthews is better than Stamkos. Stamkos has him beat cleanly on the powerplay but he is in no way a better even strength player..

I like Matthews and honestly believe he will be an undisputed top 10 player in the near future but let’s cool our jets here. He has played one full season and while it was amazing he has a LOT to prove before it can be said that he is better than Stamkos.