Who hits 50 goals first? Laine or Matthews.

[Regal]

Tough call. I think they both can hit it but it's hard to know if either will for sure. Ovechkin is the only one that's hit it or even really been close in years and he might be the best goalscorer of all time. I think Matthews has the more polished game and the more varied skillset that might make it more likely he hits closer to his peak sooner, so if they both do it I would bet on Matthews doing it first.

 

[BlueBaron]

Could go either way, maybe neither ever does it. I'll take the homer vote to balance out the Finn and Leaf hater vote.

 

[1OApick]

I think both will hit fifty. Matthews will maybe hit it this season but in next season it will be Laine.

 

[Panthaz89]

Laine maybe once and Matthews won't break 50.....players like Ovechkin don't grow on trees.

 

[kelsier]

C'mon, there's only one answer here and that is Laine. Matthews does not have the same shooting ability and given that his line strength is abound to increase, his assists are going up while partly in expense of the goals where he's less expected to have to finish the plays by himself. I'll be surprised if he scores 40 goals again next season. There's a chance neither one of them makes it to 50 at 17-18 but if one does it will be Patrik.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Could go either way, maybe neither ever does it. I'll take the homer vote to balance out the Finn and Leaf hater vote.

Haha, there's no doubt Laine scores 50.

 

[Plural]

Could go either way, maybe neither ever does it. I'll take the homer vote to balance out the Finn and Leaf hater vote.

Haha. Are you implying that this board has more Finns and Leaf haters than Leaf fans? That's awesome.

 

[Raging Bull]

C'mon, there's only one answer here and that is Laine. Matthews does not have the same shooting ability and given that his line strength is abound to increase, his assists are going up while partly in expense of the goals where he's less expected to have to finish the plays by himself. I'll be surprised if he scores 40 goals again next season. There's a chance neither one of them makes it to 50 at 17-18 but if one does it will be Patrik.

It looks like he's going to be playing with Nylander and Hyman again, same line as last season. This will be close, they scored goals at the same pace last year and it looks like neither are slowing down if the preseason is any indication. They'll be within 5 goals of each other at the end of the year if both play a full season.

 

[Plural]

It looks like he's going to be playing with Nylander and Hyman again, same line as last season. This will be close, they scored goals at the same pace last year and it looks like neither are slowing down if the preseason is any indication. They'll be within 5 goals of each other at the end of the year if both play a full season.

So Marleau is looking like he's going to be slotted in the 3rd line? I was half expecting him to play with Matthews. Would have been nice to see that line in the NHL.

 

[Raging Bull]

So Marleau is looking like he's going to be slotted in the 3rd line? I was half expecting him to play with Matthews. Would have been nice to see that line in the NHL.

Yeah, Babcock loves his grinder playing with a star. I'm sure at some point they'll play together at even strength.

 

[Plural]

Yeah, Babcock loves his grinder playing with a star. I'm sure at some point they'll play together at even strength.

Let's hope they get some ES time together. Marleau-Matthews sounds like an interesting duo.

 

[Asmola]

Laine, because he can. Otherwise KeuPa will call.

 

[ijuka]

I'm not sure if Matthews even has 50 goals in him, therefore I certainly think that Laine will hit 50 first. It might already be during this upcoming season.

 

[VanIslander]

Matthews has 40 already playing with Nylander.

Adding Marleau to the powerplay unit will get him another 5-7 goals. No reason to think he couldn't score 5 more goals all on his lonesome this season.

Matthews will do it first. Laine will likely do it more often.

 

[Leafidelity]

Lets go with the proven 40 goal scorer. Laine has another milestone to pass before we talk about 50 for him.

 

[Laineux]

Laine will get to play in the 1st PP for the whole year. That alone will add a lot of goals to him especially if/as there are more powerplays.

Second thing is that Laine is stronger and faster than last year and will get to prime scoring areas more often. He shot from further away than any forward in the league and had the highest shooting % among those with high amount of shots. His shot defied all norms and basically alone gave him 36 goals last year - based on his scoring opportunities, he was maybe a 20-25 goal scorer.

It's to be expected that he gets a lot more scoring chances this year. With his norm-defying shot, that will produce scary numbers.

That's why I bet on him hitting 50 this year. Matthews could also do it, but I'm more confident in Laine.

 

[Holymakinaw]

I'll go with Matthews because he's proven to be the better scorer so far in his young career and is on a much better team.

 

[Laineux]

Matthews has 40 already playing with Nylander.

Adding Marleau to the powerplay unit will get him another 5-7 goals. No reason to think he couldn't score 5 more goals all on his lonesome this season.

Matthews will do it first. Laine will likely do it more often.

Why do you figure that adding another goal scorer to the powerplay will increase Matthews' goal totals? I would think the opposite is more likely. Powerplay points are far more about usage and role than ES points.

 

[Snowsii]

I'll go with Matthews because he's proven to be the better scorer so far in his young career and is on a much better team.

Proven? Matthews scored only last year more goals than Laine, and that were coz Laine missing games, though Laine might not have tied/surpassed Matthews even with 82 games.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

If both are healthy. Got to go with Laine. He looks even better at 19 this year.

 

[NarcoPolo]

That's not what I said, I said he doesn't have "as much." Which is a fact, when Patrick Marleau is on your 3rd line

You have a deep team

How is a player that isnt on his line going to help him in any way? Yes, the leafs are deep up front, but he's still likely going to be stapled alongside Willy and Hyman all year. The jets have similar high end talent upfront compared to leafs. I dont understand what youre alluding to here.

 

[leafsfan1234]

Matthews. He and Nylander will light up the league this year.

 

[NarcoPolo]

He never said that. Read before you jump down his throat.

That being said, Matthews scores 50. He is the better goal scorer. He has more than just a shot.

Did read. Saying Laine doesnt have as much help still doesnt make any sense. How is having better 3rd and 4th lines going to help either of these players individually? Laine will be playing with any one of Scheifele, Wheeler, Ehlers or Little. Matthews will be playing with Hyman, Nylander, Marleau and maybe Brown.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

How is a player that isnt on his line going to help him in any way? Yes, the leafs are deep up front, but he's still likely going to be stapled alongside Willy and Hyman all year. The jets have similar high end talent upfront compared to leafs. I dont understand what youre alluding to here.

It's really quite simple, when you have a player like Marleau on your 3rd line, not to mention a guy that scored 20 goals last year as a rookie on your 4th line, that means you are a deep team.

What it also means is that teams can not simply key on Matthews line. because if they choose to do that then JVR Bozak Marner will tear them apart and if they don't Marleau Kadri Komarov will.

This means teams aren't going to be able to match their top D pairs against Matthews all the time, the depth of this team means there is going to be times when he gets weaker assignments and he will feast on those weaker assignments when he gets them.

this doesn't even get intop the PP which appears to be Marleau Matthews Nylander Brown Gardiner which is LEATHAL

Yes depth helps

 

[Holymakinaw]

Proven? Matthews scored only last year more goals than Laine, and that were coz Laine missing games, though Laine might not have tied/surpassed Matthews even with 82 games.

Yes, PROVEN. As in "fact".

Matthews scored 40 goals last year. Laine scored 36. Done deal. Proven.