Auston Matthews vs Patrik Laine - Round III

[Boxertim]

How can you say that laine has been playing better than matthews since the wjc???

Different leagues. And matthews scored
More. His team went out early. Laine had an amazing playoff. So did gelinas, ward, giguere, alan macauley, justin williams, bo horvat etc.


Food for thought.

The tkachuk vs dubois debate has been raging

Dubois went out early, tkachuk is having an amazing run in the OHL.

The emphasis on playoff scoring hasnt really effected their standing

I think TK's scoring has easily put him ahead of PLD

 

[Teukka]

I don't think Laine was ever a fringe top 10 pick to start the year. He was ranked 4th by McKenzie in September, and I'm pretty sure he was viewed as a top 5 guy since last years U-18 WJC, with exceptions like Pronman having him around 10 to start the year.

Also, the ACL injury season set him back. Two years ago, he was just as much a #1 contender (if not more) than what he was now. Destroying U18s as a 15-year-old. Then he missed one good summer of training and was momentarily set back. Now he's on the curve again and is elevating his game at a pace that's scary for everyone outside Toronto and Winnipeg

 

[swift]

After looking at a ton of Laine highlights I went and looked at Mathews highlights. Watching Mathews skate, it's like he's on another level. That being said, Laine is so good in other areas. But the way Mathews moves around out there, just has him a step above Laine. Either way, they are both going to be great players.

This. Biggest difference between them. Laine is still a clumsy skater. You still have the same skating instructor in Winnipeg that taught Teemu to skate...?

 

[BB88]

This. Biggest difference between them. Laine is still a clumsy skater. You still have the same skating instructor in Winnipeg that taught Teemu to skate...?

Laine is actually strong skater, but his 1st few steps could improve, but luckily we know that's going to be his priority #1.
That's not the worst weakness to have as a prospect.

Wouldn't look at just youtube highlights and declare what kind of skater he is.

 

[Daximus]

Laine is actually strong skater, but his 1st few steps could improve, but luckily we know that's going to be his priority #1.
That's not the worst weakness to have as a prospect.

Wouldn't look at just youtube highlights and declare what kind of skater he is.

Plus he gets to take practice notes from Wheeler, Ehlers and Connor. Wheeler is actually the perfect example of how a big man can fly.

 

[JetsFan815]

What if Laine puts up like 18 points in 10 games in the World Championships. Do the Leafs draft him 1st overall at that point?

 

[Joe MacMillan]

Laine is a strong skater but he lacks agility and explosiveness. Mobility is the area that sets them apart the most IMO and essentially it comes down to skating.

Matthews is a fantastic skater while Laine, albeit not "clumsy", is just decent.

 

[BB88]

Plus he gets to take practice notes from Wheeler, Ehlers and Connor. Wheeler is actually the perfect example of how a big man can fly.

And Tampere/Tappara is the place to be in Finland if you want to improve skating, Barkovs last season is the latest example, and his strenght coach is in Turku and he trains NHL players, so his skating can surprise lot of fans in the near future.

 

[Daximus]

And Tampere/Tappara is the place to be in Finland if you want to improve skating, Barkovs last season is the latest example, and his strenght coach is in Turku and he trains NHL players, so his skating can surprise lot of fans in the near future.

Do you think he will sign with Winnipeg right after the draft or wait a year and play with Tappara again? He doesn't have much left to prove there IMO.

 

[pikkuvaimo]

Do you think he will sign with Winnipeg right after the draft or wait a year and play with Tappara again? He doesn't have much left to prove there IMO.

Laine will play in NA next season. There is no chance he plays in Tappara anymore.

 

[BB88]

Do you think he will sign with Winnipeg right after the draft or wait a year and play with Tappara again? He doesn't have much left to prove there IMO.

He's said he wants to play in the NHL next year, he wants to follow Barkovs steps.

 

[Hagged]

He's said he wants to play in the NHL next year, he wants to follow Barkovs steps.

He needs to give the finger to every GM to fall to the Panthers

 

[QnebO]

Pretty sure 90% of the post here are just people throwing an anchor out so that they can quote their post if their guy happens to turn out better in a few years. If they are wrong, nobody will remember or care. It's so obvious, the guy just above me for example pretty much wrote a thrilling novel. I'm sure he'd love to quote that in a few years if it pans out.

No, it was a great post. Definitely not anchor out -mentality.

 

[Daximus]

He needs to give the finger to every GM to fall to the Panthers

I wonder if a kid has ever looked at the mock drafts out there and didn't like the hand he was dealt, so he threw a few interviews with the top teams to ensure he would fall to a team more to his liking. We'd never know but it would be funny.

 

[Daximus]

Laine will play in NA next season. There is no chance he plays in Tappara anymore.

He's said he wants to play in the NHL next year, he wants to follow Barkovs steps.

This is good to hear. Can't wait until TC.

 

[Lempo]

He needs to give the finger to every GM to fall to the Panthers

"F you, won't play" to every team trying to draft you until the team of your choice's turn. And then afterwards to the press: "I don't have enough emotions to mix n' mess with them." Sounds like a plan.

 

[Lempo]

I wonder if a kid has ever looked at the mock drafts out there and didn't like the hand he was dealt, so he threw a few interviews with the top teams to ensure he would fall to a team more to his liking. We'd never know but it would be funny.

"Does your team have a strict policy on recreational drugs?"

 

[kelsier]

For the people who are claiming Matthews has been in the surface and as a clear favourite as #1 the past two or three years - Laine at the age of 15 played in a four nation tournament in Sundsvall (if my memory still serves) and scored hattrick after another in these games. No one could stop him, even while being double under ager. Didn't even know Matthews was there at the time. Redline projected Laine as the early favourite for the 2016 draft. Then as the season finished, on the last game Laine suffered a serious knee injury that took him 6 months to recover, thus missing the following off-season entirely. 2014-15 he had not been able to train and workout his skating and last season was a disaster although the talent was always there. But to say he's been off the map until the end of the season is false. Yet no one could have predicted Laine's dominance back in to the surface and awareness of the hockey world in general. He could be the consensus #1 pick now for all we know had he been healthy the last few years. So lets not ignore the past as it never existed.

I've stated multiple times that Laine is the BPA in the draft what comes down to pure talent and been flamed for it, yet I only find it entertaining how sensitive the Leafs people are on this particular topic. Laine is at the moment 7 months younger than Matthews and missed one off-season entirely, yet plays like a 30 year old veteran amongst the adults, no matter the stage. I do realise, hope and even almost pray that nothing changes in the draft and Matthews goes first for I hope the Jets is the next home for Patrik. Couldn't care less who gets drafted 1st in sense of the highest pick. However those who claim Matthews still is the clear cut first man drafted in 2016, need to open up their eyes and let go off the bias. Laine has closed the cap and turned it to his favour. I'm still inclined to believe that the cap between the two isn't high enough and Matthews runs first into the podium and fills the biggest need in the Leafs organization.

In the end. Stating personal preferences here is allowed and should not been ridiculed, this works both ways. There are people who still believe nothing has changed and that the tables are inversed. This is fine and is as it should be. In a free world, man can state his opinion without the fear of being lynched for sharing his mind, ha!

 

[Purity*]

For the people who are claiming Matthews has been in the surface and as a clear favourite as #1 the past two or three years - Laine at the age of 15 played in a four nation tournament in Sundsvall (if my memory still serves) and scored hattrick after another in these games. No one could stop him, even while being double under ager. Didn't even know Matthews was there at the time. Redline projected Laine as the early favourite for the 2016 draft. Then as the season finished, on the last game Laine suffered a serious knee injury that took him 6 months to recover, thus missing the following off-season entirely. 2014-15 he had not been able to train and workout his skating and last season was a disaster although the talent was always there. But to say he's been off the map until the end of the season is false. Yet no one could have predicted Laine's dominance back in to the surface and awareness of the hockey world in general. He could be the consensus #1 pick now for all we know had he been healthy the last few years. So lets not ignore the past as it never existed.

I've stated multiple times that Laine is the BPA in the draft what comes down to pure talent and been flamed for it, yet I only find it entertaining how sensitive the Leafs people are on this particular topic. Laine is at the moment 7 months younger than Matthews and missed one off-season entirely, yet plays like a 30 year old veteran amongst the adults, no matter the stage. I do realise, hope and even almost pray that nothing changes in the draft and Matthews goes first for I hope the Jets is the next home for Patrik. Couldn't care less who gets drafted 1st in sense of the highest pick. However those who claim Matthews still is the clear cut first man drafted in 2016, need to open up their eyes and let go off the bias. Laine has closed the cap and turned it to his favour. I'm still inclined to believe that the cap between the two isn't high enough and Matthews runs first into the podium and fills the biggest need in the Leafs organization.

In the end. Stating personal preferences here is allowed and should not been ridiculed, this works both ways. There are people who still believe nothing has changed and that the tables are inversed. This is fine and is as it should be. In a free world, man can state his opinion without the fear of being lynched for sharing his mind, ha!

The amount of parallels I can draw between this and every other debate between the #1 and #2 prospects in previous years is just hilarious.

"Redline projected Laine as the early favourite for the 2016 draft."

You know how many authorities I can reference that say Matthews is the clear cut favorite for #1? Do you really want to play this game?

 

[Jyrki Lumme]

Laine has a great shot, can't think of a single other area of the game that he comes close to Matthews in though. Just hope Laine can improve his skating at some point, pretty average at this point and that could really hold him back.

 

[agent082]

For those wondering, that's:

Ekblad
Yakupov
Nugent-Hopkins
Hall
Kane
Johnson
Fleury
Nash
Kovalchuk
DiPietro
Lecavalier
Thornton
Phillips
Berard
Jovanovski
Nolan
Sundin

You have a lot of faith in Patrik Stefan. And I think you're underrating the attraction to the Big Skilled Centre (Sundin, Thornton, Lecavalier). Just like I don't think he'll surpass Matthews this year.

Sundin played in Allsvenskan. He had good european junior championships, but don't think he will beat Laine. At least Laine would give a better fight for 1OA than Chyzowski.

Thats true that Thornton and Lecavalier would be very attractive options to the teams and maybe you're right.

And I propably remembered wrong Stefan predraft hype so I take that back.

 

[JJTT]

The amount of parallels I can draw between this and every other debate between the #1 and #2 prospects in previous years is just hilarious.

"Redline projected Laine as the early favourite for the 2016 draft."

You know how many authorities I can reference that say Matthews is the clear cut favorite for #1? Do you really want to play this game?

In 2013? Please name them.

 

[Purity*]

Laine has a great shot, can't think of a single other area of the game that he comes close to Matthews in though. Just hope Laine can improve his skating at some point, pretty average at this point and that could really hold him back.

Skating, edge work/agility, acceleration, playmaking/passing, defensive awareness, hockey IQ

Matthews is clearly superior in all of these areas. Oh, and Matthews also happens to have an amazing shot of his own.

 

[93LEAFS]

Sundin played in Allsvenskan. He had good european junior championships, but don't think he will beat Laine. At least Laine would give a better fight for 1OA than Chyzowski.

Thats true that Thornton and Lecavalier would be very attractive options to the teams and maybe you're right.

And I propably remembered wrong Stefan predraft hype so I take that back.

From what I remember 1999 was viewed as a weak class, and Daniel Sedin was actually viewed as the best player in the draft, but there was the belief that the twins wouldn't come over unless they were on the same team. Burke actually had the 1OA pick at one point but swapped it with Atlanta under the agreement that they would take Stefan and the Canucks would draft the twins.

 

[TheKrebsCycle]

Skating, edge work/agility, acceleration, playmaking/passing, defensive awareness, hockey IQ

Matthews is clearly superior in all of these areas. Oh, and Matthews also happens to have an amazing shot of his own.

Agree with everything but this. Laine has sick playmaking skills. Id call it pretty damn close to even.