Auston Matthews - POTENTIALLY Greatest American player of all time?

[PinkFly]

So obviously he's not there yet since he hasn't even had 2 full seasons in the NHL. But what are the chances he gets there? Who is even the best right now? Modano? Leetch? Patrick Kane is to one dimensional to be the greatest American of all time.

Edit: Wow alot of backlash for missing a word from the title. I would expect people would read the OP and be able to gauge I was talking about POTENTIALLY. I edited the thread title to spell out the obvious.

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[daver]

So obviously he's not there yet since he hasn't even had 2 full seasons in the NHL. But what are the chances he gets there? Who is even the best right now? Modano? Leetch? Patrick Kane is to one dimensional to be the greatest American of all time.

How much would more would Kane have to score to be the best?

 

[hockeykicker]

brett hull? pat lafontaine?

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Oh God... HE'S TWENTY.

 

[Whaleafs]

IMO it's Modano. Matthews isn't even the best American this SEASON.

 

[TheMule93]

His career high of 69 points is greater than any other American player's season for sure

don't even get me started on career totals or hardware

 

[Bye Felicia]

I fully expect Matthews to have come up with a cure for cancer within the next five years.

 

[Nick Hansen]

brett hull? pat lafontaine?

Three time Norris winner Chris Chelios.

 

[Pookie]

But what are the chances he gets there?

If I were to hazard a guess.... ummmm..... 23.765412%

 

[PensandCaps]

Kane is easily better now and all time it probably will be Kane or Modano.

 

[libertarian]

Wow! someone finally made a Matthews is the greatest thread!

 

[Drytoast]

I fully expect Matthews to have come up with a cure for cancer within the next five years.

Before or after he invents warp drive?

 

[WTFMAN99]

I'm a Leafs/Hawks' fan and I think Kane is getting into that conversation.

 

[GodEmperor]

He has the potential for sure, although I think the real question is "Would The Mexican National Team (With Matthews) Win A Stanley Cup?"

 

[The Night King]

Let him get a little bit closer to his prime before you start calling him the GOAT.

 

[DrJustice]

We can talk if he leads the USA to an Olympic Gold medal.

 

[Plural]

Kane is in the discussion. But let's wait a while before Matthews gets in the conversation of overthrowing some heavy hitting Hall of Famers like Chelios, Hull and Modano.

 

[Oberyn]

He is the greatest American player of all time born on September 17, 1997

 

[JamieG19]

Right now I'd say it's Brett Hull, but Matthews definitely has a good shot at it unless teams figure out all you have to do is lay the body on him and he'll be injured for most of his career. If he isn't injured much of the time, this won't even be a question.

 

[JamieG19]

This is why people hate Leaf fans.
1. Matthews hasn't proven anything yet
2. Learn some history of American players in the NHL. There have been lots of good ones !!

Um, he's proved a lot in a short amount of time.

 

[JamieG19]

With elite players like Matthews, you can tell that someone is exceptional without needing to wait 5 years to say it. The only thing that could stop him is if he turns out to be injury prone.

 

[Plural]

With elite players like Matthews, you can tell that someone is exceptional without needing to wait 5 years to say it. The only thing that could stop him is if he turns out to be injury prone.

I think you're right. Matthews is looking like he's going to be a superstar. The thing is, the guys we're comparing him here were also superstars. As of now, Matthews hasn't hit the level of play Kane/Hull/Modano/LaFontaine(who's not even competing for the top spot) did and he's far from being near in the career value.

So, in this sense we're trying to answer a question "how much more will Matthews improve and how long will he be able to sustain that level of play"? The answer to this for a guy who's played less than 1.5 seasons in the NHL is: we don't know. It's 100% fruitless discussion. Matthews is great but he's not top-20 in PPG or top-30 in points as of now. We're not going to be able to figure out if he'll become better than guys like Hull, Modano, Kane, etc.

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

OP should have said potential to be in the title. Currently #300 ins coring so he has a long way to go.

He would need 1200 more points, a few cups, a few gold medals (if possible to obtain), and a bunch of individual awards.

We tend to assume USA hasnt had many great players compared to the Gretzky, Howe, Jagr, Orr, etc.. of the hockey world, but they have had a ton of really really good players. Matthews has a long way to go.

 

[RageQuit77]

Hopefully so.

Some two decades short.

 

[42]

Threads like this, and there are hundreds of them it seems, make me really dislike the kid. And he's a good player but for Chrissake, let's stop with the extreme overrating of Matthews.