Player Discussion Auston Matthews Discussion

[leafsfan5]

He needs to have the game of his life on Monday, there are no excuses

 

[notbias]

We arent winning games if he cant lead to a strong special teams which kills us

PP has been bad/below avg costing us series

PK has been horrific and Matthews shluld be able to lead us to a good PK but he isnt capable there either getting taken off the PK

Tonight he was again a negative player with his dumb penalty costing the third goal

He isnt tbe biggest choker on the team (that is Tavares and Marner) but hes the 3rd biggest reason for us not having succsess since 2017

44 pts in 51 games is Nazem Kadri level playoff production for a guy who gets talked around as the 2nd best player in the league way to often

He is our best PKer...

PP is generally bad for us and they deserve criticism, he's part of it.

He needs better production, I agree, but he is also winning when he is out there... that's all we care about, is winning, he's generally not the reason we are losing.

 

[hamzarocks]

He is our best PKer...

PP is generally bad for us and they deserve criticism, he's part of it.

He needs better production, I agree, but he is also winning when he is out there... that's all we care about, is winning, he's generally not the reason we are losing.

Do you watch leafs hockey bro?

Matthews doesnt PK lol. He kills less minutes per game than nylander lol.

Keefe has no trust in him, hes tried everyyear and he gets bootoed out b/c his commitement to PKing isnt strong enough and he never enjoys that role

 

[notbias]

Do you watch hockey bro?

Matthews doesnt PK lol. He kills less than nylander lol.

Matthews has PKed for 55 mins this year, and in those 55 mins, he was our best PKer... do you watch hockey bro?

 

[authentic]

He also got eliminated in the middle of that massive streak, and that covers 2 separate seasons so it's really not that special.

Due to horrible reffing against Tampa, and it ended only after he took a slap shot to the hand and was clearly labouring. There are many things to hate about this team, but dear god Matthews is not one of them

 

[hamzarocks]

Matthews has PKed for 55 mins this year, and in those 55 mins, he was our best PKer... do you watch hockey bro?

Holy crap I knew you were a homer but I didnt think it was at this level

Matthews played 55mins of PK. Less than 1 min per game

He was shit, not trusted or relied upon
Got the boot, and doesnt kill PKs anymore

If he was a great PKer he would be on the ice this series vs Boston and maybe helped our PK tonight

Matthews is irrelevant on the PK game plans for Keefe and coaching

True to horrible Redding by Tampa, and it ended only after he took a slap shot to the hand and eas clearly labouring. There are many things to hate about this team, but dear god Matthews is not one of them

44 in 51 is nazem kadri numbers

Start producing and maybe he gets talked about like a top 10 player in the game come playoffs.

Tampa is the team hes matched again the best. He played them after they lost their depth and strong defensive 3rd line of Gourde, Goodrow, and Coleman.

He has to dominate boston games 2 onwards. This boston team is weak. They have little offensive talents he has to worry about and defensively it isnt deep enough to shut him down.

 

[horner]

Incredible regular season player

 

[notbias]

Holy crap I knew you were a homer but I didnt think it was at this level

Matthews played 55mins of PK. Less than 1 min per game

He was shit, not trusted or relied upon
Got the boot, and doesnt kill PKs anymore

If he was a great PKer he would be on the ice this series vs Boston and maybe helped our PK tonight

Matthews is irrelevant on the PK game plans for Keefe and coaching

The stats do not back up your thoughts... they decided he was better used at 5v5 or on the PP than the PK, it is that simple.

I agree he is irrelevant on the PK now, but no clue how you think he was bad... there is not a single thing supporting this.

 

[Antropovsky]

Incredible regular season player

Can't do it all alone... Tavares is old now, Marner is 4th line level in the postseason, 4 out 6 of the defenders can barely make a basic pass, and the goalie isnt anything more than a backup.

 

[hamzarocks]

The stats do not back up your thoughts... they decided he was better used at 5v5 or on the PP than the PK, it is that simple.

I agree he is irrelevant on the PK now, but no clue how you think he was bad... there is not a single thing supporting this.

They took him off the PK b/c he cant play all 3 situations and perform well.

True 2-way defensive guys play PK minutes.

Barkov, Toews, Kopitar, Bergeron etc

Matthews isnt ofcourse on that level defensively but he blows them away offensively regular season wise. If he maintained his offense in the playoffs for the most part its not an issue. His offense dying ~27% over his reg season production means he is not performing well enough and has to make the value up some other way.

My orginal pt was he needs to to play on the PK to make up for his lack of scoring come playoffs and get us a better PK. If hes a good PKer we would be utilizing him more there.

55 minutes is such a small sample size it shows he doesnt not have the coaches trust to play those mins, or that he doesnt have desire/committment to sacrifice offensive opportunities for extra defensive/PKing role.

 

[wingman75]

Great players don't miss that open net. Tough angle, happened fast, f*** off. Guy scored 69 goals in the regular season, team needed that one to stay in the game... it has to go in. We have no clutch players. None.

 

[Aashir Mallik]

Great players don't miss that open net. Tough angle, happened fast, f*** off. Guy scored 69 goals in the regular season, team needed that one to stay in the game... it has to go in. We have no clutch players. None.

That miss sucked

B’s Come back and made it 2-0. Who knows what would’ve happened it it was 1-1

 

[wingman75]

That miss sucked

B’s Come back and made it 2-0. Who knows what would’ve happened it it was 1-1

Exactly the thing we rarely find out. I mean, it's a rerun, I get it, but it's never less disappointing every time I see it.

Let's see what he can get done in the next game. He has to be not just great, but clutch.

 

[Jojalu]

We arent winning games with him as a leaf.

He takes up his money usually dominates reg season but falters playoffs. We cant win without him being an actual elite/conn smythe contending type player

His 5v5 matchup this year are going to be mainly 3rd liners besides Pasta who was also medicore to be honest.

His best series were tampa where he played good for sure, but Wash, Bos 1 & 2, CBJ, MTL, & FLR his line has been the best line offensively as he either played a weak offensive team (CBJ, MTL) or didnt matchup the top offensive lines (WSH , BOS 1, BOS 2, FLR)

This is what is disheartening about tonight. Pasta and Marchand were non factors and they still lost big

 

[Boxscore]

Matthews has shown up only a handful of times in the playoffs. Ever. And I can pretty much count them all on one hand. That comeback game vs Tampa, and Game 6 vs Tampa last year. That goal to break open Game 6 vs Washington 0-0 (that we later lost). That miracle comeback vs Columbus in Game 5. Think he had 2 goals vs Boston at home one year in either 2018 or 2019. That's all. For an entire 8 year career.

100% correct. I've been steadfast in my position that this is the year Matthews must level up in the playoffs -- zero excuses. He wanted the big payday, he scored close to 70 during the regular season, now he needs to find another gear and lead this team to the Cup or Conference Finals. Period.

The excuses are beyond old. The apologies by the fans trying to defend him are beyond old. Comparing his "defensive game" to that of elite defensive forwards who truly impact the game defensively on a regular basis is beyond old. Speculating if he's playing hurt is beyond old.

It's time for this kid to walk the walk when it matters. Tonight was an absolutely pathetic performance by a dude who just inked a massive payday and won the Rocket. His intensity level was 1/10. Unacceptable.

 

[Jojalu]

Exactly the thing we rarely find out. I mean, it's a rerun, I get it, but it's never less disappointing every time I see it.

Let's see what he can get done in the next game. He has to be not just great, but clutch.

We never find out. I thought a lot about what could have been if Matthews scored instead of hitting the post 2 mins into the Florida series.

Or if Nylander buried the OT chance against Tampa in game 6.

Or if anyone could have scored in OT in game 5 or 6 vs Montreal.

The list seems endless

 

[ruaware41]

Can't do it all alone... Tavares is old now, Marner is 4th line level in the postseason, 4 out 6 of the defenders can barely make a basic pass, and the goalie isnt anything more than a backup.

shoulda never signed tavares

 

[horner]

Can't do it all alone... Tavares is old now, Marner is 4th line level in the postseason, 4 out 6 of the defenders can barely make a basic pass, and the goalie isnt anything more than a backup.

This is what the core wanted money.
Mathew's Marner Willy can take over a game on there which they will have to do.
Mathew's was good but we need much more from him.

 

[francis246]

shoulda never signed tavares

This is more than a Tavares issue. This is you have too many passive guys in your core. After the Montreal series a shake up should have been made. It would have been tough but Florida did it. They won the presidents trophy and got rid of Huberdeau. They felt they needed something different. It took a little bit, it also took a coaching change but it turned out to be worth it in the end.

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

I could be wrong but his facial expressions and body language appeared to be exhibiting signs of a lot of stress and worry

 

[Stephen]

I could be wrong but his facial expressions and body language appeared to be exhibiting signs of a lot of stress and worry

He sounded pretty rattled in the postgame. The way the Leafs struggled in that basic Boston game reminded me of the Florida series.

 

[Stephen]

This is more than a Tavares issue. This is you have too many passive guys in your core. After the Montreal series a shake up should have been made. It would have been tough but Florida did it. They won the presidents trophy and got rid of Huberdeau. They felt they needed something different. It took a little bit, it also took a coaching change but it turned out to be worth it in the end.

Marner for Tkachuk would have been the darkhorse trade to get this program back on track in 2022.

 

[Eternal Leaf]

The way he was trying for goal #70 compared to last night is a terrible look.

The other core members (Tavares and Marner) are bigger issues in the playoffs but Matty needs to wake up too. You can't have such extended periods of doing nothing in a big game.

 

[NVious]

Can't do it all alone... Tavares is old now, Marner is 4th line level in the postseason, 4 out 6 of the defenders can barely make a basic pass, and the goalie isnt anything more than a backup.

He's not, the highest paid player in the league isn't even ppg in the playoffs, he goes from .65 to ..44 gpg.

All of them are awful, Marner is closer to ppg with basically no goals, Nylander is supposed to be some playoff superstar, except he hasn't done anything either, I guess only in Toronto does going .9ppg warrant a 12+ million dollar contract.

This core isn't it, some years when you have tough matchups it is what it is, but the failures against Montreal and Columbus say it all

 

[kevsh]

The answer for why Matthews hasn't been able to step up in the post-season I believe is the same for each of this core: They aren't competitive enough. They don't hate to lose enough. They don't want it bad enough.

Tavares, Mitch, Matthews, Willie all strive to be great players, stick around after practice to work on intangibles, watch lots of video, consult with the coaching staff on how to be better, but none of that equates to being competitive in the way a guy like Michael Jordan was, or Crosby, or dozens of others that have it.

Unfortunately, you either have it or you don't. He doesn't. The core doesn't. And sadly that means that you can surround this core with the best possible lineup and it won't make a difference, they still won't win. At least as long as they're facing any team that wants it more. And right now, that's just about every team.