Tribute Auston Matthews Discussion Thread II: Record Breaking Edition

[1specter]

He's the best player in the league this season. I don't give a damn what those defense cheating bozos in Edmonton do. The only argument might be Shesterkin.

 

[Superstar]

He's about as close to perfect as a modern NHL center gets and is pretty much dominant every time he touches the ice.

The growth curve has been incredible considering he was already exceptional as a rookie.

Getting his man strength while entering his prime.

 

[Stephen]

4 points from the overall scoring lead too.

What an incredible player.

His scoring pace seems to have increased substantially, compared to McDavid and Draisaitl slowing down so much in recent months.

 

[WillyC]

He could literally win a ton of hardware this season… he’s on a mission.

 

[1specter]

His scoring pace seems to have increased substantially, compared to McDavid and Draisaitl slowing down so much in recent months.

Marner being on an absolute heater also helps, but regardless this is incredibly impressive especially when you consider that he is also playing good defensive hockey and not cheating for points

 

[Maplebeasts]

He's the best player in the league this season. I don't give a damn what those defense cheating bozos in Edmonton do. The only argument might be Shesterkin.

Shesterkin won't have played enough games by the time the season is over to win the Hart. Rags only have 25 games left with 4 back-to-backs. He probably ends up with about 55 starts, 11 less than Carey Price had in his Hart season.

 

[Apotheosis]

Honestly, will anyone be surprised if he wins the Art Ross? He's 4 points back and has played less games. Hasn't slowed down at all and dominates almost every game he plays. Marner has shown no signs of slowing down either. Marner could feasibly catch up to the top 5 soon as well. Imagine, Ross, Rocket and Hart? Last time was done was Ovi IIRC.

 

[ACC1224]

Best player in the World in my biased view and Marner isn't far behind.
I'd take that duo over any other duo in the league.

 

[Gary Nylund]

4 points from the overall scoring lead too.

What an incredible player.

He even has more points than Kadri, amazing!

 

[Sypher04]

If he scores over 60 goals, which seems entirely likely right now, it should be an award sweep. Rocket, Hart and Lindsay.

 

[ACC1224]

Biggest loser in this is Rick Vaive. He's been dining out on the single season goal record for a long time.

 

[The Iceman]

Easy to forget but Matthews missed the first 3 games and wasn't himself when he returned sitting at 1G 1A heading into the Leafs 10th game this season.
Since the Leafs 10th game he leads the NHL in goals and points.

 

[ACC1224]

Easy to forget but Matthews missed the first 3 games and wasn't himself when he returned sitting at 1G 1A heading into the Leafs 10th game this season.
Since the Leafs 10th game he leads the NHL in goals and points.

Plus he played an extended time without Marner.

 

[hoglund]

Best player in the World in my biased view and Marner isn't far behind.
I'd take that duo over any other duo in the league.

Both players by far ARE the best, but they both have proven to invisible during the playoffs.

 

[authentic]

Easy to forget but Matthews missed the first 3 games and wasn't himself when he returned sitting at 1G 1A heading into the Leafs 10th game this season.
Since the Leafs 10th game he leads the NHL in goals and points.

It's funny because his season is impressive enough as it is but he could easily be sitting at about 5 more goals right now if he didn't need surgery on his wrist.

 

[zeke]

Non-Empty Net Points

1. Draisaitl 57gms, 73pts
1. Huberdeau 57gms, 73pts
3. Matthews 53gms, 72pts
4. McDavid 56gms, 71pts
5. Kaprizov 54gms, 69pts

 

[ACC1224]

Both players by far ARE the best, but they both have proven to invisible during the playoffs.

It's funny how that disclaimer always need to be added to anything positive about Matthews or Marner like it's some type of new or relevant information.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

So as of last night, Matthews is officially the highest goal scoring player in the world over the past 6 seasons. I know there are many who would like to say “well it is just the last two seasons where he is putting himself in the conversation” but nope……he has literally outproduced everyone over the past 6 years.

There’s been a very vocal group who doesn’t like to talk about number of games or minutes played, essentially because it was the only way to try to discredit him. It was only a matter of time until his evidently superior production at per 60 and per GP allowed him to catch up on the raw totals side. Now here we are. Now those two stats inform us only of just how big the gap has been (i.e. it isn’t really nearly as close as some would have you believe).

The top 10 raw goal scorers over the past 6 years:

Player GP G EVG PPG GWG TOI Auston Matthews 388 242 182 60 41 7522:00 Alex Ovechkin 414 241 156 84 32 8332:06 Leon Draisaitl 426 216 128 80 39 9061:44 Connor McDavid 418 208 161 44 42 9177:40 David Pastrnak 398 206 128 78 35 7351:41 Brad Marchand 396 189 133 42 39 7696:27 John Tavares 416 176 124 49 21 8036:30 Patrick Kane 425 172 134 38 23 9131:22 Patrik Laine 389 172 113 59 25 6899:43 Nathan MacKinnon 398 170 117 51 31 8268:02 [TBODY] [/TBODY]

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Notice the huge gap in games played and minutes played. His closest competitors have played 800 – 1600 more minutes. Really the one interesting person in that list is Pastrnak.

Top 10 goals per game played (min 300 GP) over last 6 years:

Player	GP	G	G/GP	TOI
Auston Matthews	388	242	0.62	7522:00
Alex Ovechkin	414	241	0.58	8332:06
David Pastrnak	398	206	0.52	7351:41
Leon Draisaitl	426	216	0.51	9061:44
Nikita Kucherov	325	163	0.5	6358:17
Connor McDavid	418	208	0.5	9177:40
Brad Marchand	396	189	0.48	7696:27
Steven Stamkos	327	154	0.47	6041:14
Kyle Connor	362	165	0.46	6899:42
Patrik Laine	389	172	0.44	6899:43

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Top 10 goals per 60 (min 300 GP) over last 6 years (I think this is 5 v 5):

Player	G/60
Auston Matthews	1.64
Alex Ovechkin	1.26
David Pastrnak	1.18
Jake Guentzel	1.16
Nikita Kucherov	1.16
Brad Marchand	1.15
Jeff Skinner	1.15
Connor McDavid	1.12
Kyle Connor	1.11
Brendan Gallagher	1.1

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Another one that is interesting, if you look at the goals per 60 (again I think this is 5 v 5, min 50 GP) by individual season, it really illustrates how good Matthews has been these past 6 years. Only Matthews and Ovechkin have managed to crack the top 50 G/60 seasons more than once. Matthews has done it 6 out of 6 years (1st, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 12th, 43rd), OV has done it 3 times (7th, 35th, 40th). Of the top 10 raw goal producers, Tavares (9th), Pastrnak (18th), Marchand (47th) and McDavid (48th) have each done it once. One guy is inside the top 35 more than once and he's there 5 times. Obviously this exercise would be more interesting again to add in the non 5 v 5 totals as clearly that’s where others are closing the gap.

Long story short, it just took time for the superiority in production rates to surpass the raw totals and now you are truly going to be able to appreciate those gaps.

 

[Oscar Peterson]

As freaking good as Matthews was last season, he's somehow hit another gear this year, the way that he just absolutely hounds pucks no matter how far away from the play he is is incredible, in my lifetime I've never seen a hockey player look this dominant on the ice, he's the best player in the world right now in my eyes. Also scary how he's improved every season and I've read in interviews of other players that his off-season work ethic is unmatched, wonder if this is his peak or if he can still get better....

 

[Discoverer]

As freaking good as Matthews was last season, he's somehow hit another gear this year, the way that he just absolutely hounds pucks no matter how far away from the play he is is incredible, in my lifetime I've never seen a hockey player look this dominant on the ice, he's the best player in the world right now in my eyes. Also scary how he's improved every season and I've read in interviews of other players that his off-season work ethic is unmatched, wonder if this is his peak or if he can still get better....

I don't remember watching anyone who made stick-lifting an artform the way he does. The strength, speed, timing... it's amazing to watch. Half the time he seems to be heading to the net for a shot before the other player even realizes he's lost the puck.

 

[TheBigFour]

Only three players since the 2010 draft have scored more careers goals than matthews has so far.
This is ridiculous, given those players made their debut 4-6 years before Matthews did.

 

[Confucius]

Both players by far ARE the best, but they both have proven to invisible during the playoffs.

It will all balance out by the end of their careers. Has there ever been a star player who's playoff numbers were not more or less the same as his regular season numbers by the end of his career? To me it just means someday (hopefully soon) the playoff numbers will be much greater, to bring that sample size back to the norm.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

It will all balance out by the end of their careers. Has there ever been a star player who's playoff numbers were not more or less the same as his regular season numbers by the end of his career? To me it just means someday (hopefully soon) the playoff numbers will be much greater, to bring that sample size back to the norm.

In fairness, Matthews' goal scoring rate in the playoffs is one of the better all time goal scoring rates.

 

[Amadeus]

We may have the best and second best Leafs of all time playing on this team right now.

 

[Gary Nylund]

It's funny how that disclaimer always need to be added to anything positive about Matthews or Marner like it's some type of new or relevant information.

It's funny how some people like you are so easily triggered.

As freaking good as Matthews was last season, he's somehow hit another gear this year, the way that he just absolutely hounds pucks no matter how far away from the play he is is incredible, in my lifetime I've never seen a hockey player look this dominant on the ice, he's the best player in the world right now in my eyes. Also scary how he's improved every season and I've read in interviews of other players that his off-season work ethic is unmatched, wonder if this is his peak or if he can still get better....

I'd say Bobby Orr but those memories are pretty old by now. And yeah Matthews is looking scary good these days. I'd love to think he can carry us in the playoffs but our goaltending needs to be at least decent, if we don't get that then it won't matter. Here's hoping!

I don't remember watching anyone who made stick-lifting an artform the way he does. The strength, speed, timing... it's amazing to watch. Half the time he seems to be heading to the net for a shot before the other player even realizes he's lost the puck.

Marner's pretty good at this as well.