Auston Matthews Thread

[Menzinger]

He didnt have a great game tonight, but the guy literally has 11 goals in 15 games this year....

Some of you need to calm down a bit

 

[SHANNYPLAN]

Trade Willy for Anderson & Savard and let Matthews be the puck carrier, hes more dangerous that way, Anderson would allow him to play a strong cycle game and use his big body without fear of being targeted physically.

Johnss0n - Matthews - Anderson

 

[ORRFForever]

He is an elite goal scorer. That’s it!

Yes. Sadly, being an elite goal scorer allows him to coast for large chunks of games and still make $11.6M/yr.

 

[Gabriel426]

I've been holding off on saying it but yeah.....it definitely looks like that right now. Matthews just isn't a very big factor if he isn't scoring the puck.

He has a lot to work on, one of it is putting in consistent effort/aggression. If he plays like he's 6'3 he could be a dominant force night in and night out

funny thing is that his compete and complete level seems to be dropping every season. Someone is influencing him in a bad way, I thought that’s why we traded Phil away, but at least Phil will stand up for his mates.

 

[Kiwi]

He didnt have a great game tonight, but the guy literally has 11 goals in 15 games this year....

Some of you need to calm down a bit

His defensive game is a disgrace, I like the scoring but if he's not going to defend we've got a serious problem

 

[Suntouchable13]

You people are why being a Leafs fan can be embarrassing sometimes.

We go decades without having young star talent and we finally get some and this is what happens.

We are frustrated because he has the most player friendly contract in the league but he looks like he is overpaid.

 

[MarnerElite]

Matthews is doing fine(not great but not horrible either). One of the issues is that the other 2(Willy especially) aren't doing much either. Johnsson works very hard but even when he gets to the puck he either doesn't make the correct play or just gets outmuscled and we're back to defending again. I'd like to see him with at least one player that can give him some room out there(if you notice everyone is trying to double up on him and take his head off). Sure you could also say that he should be making room on his own but honestly when 2 of your line mates aren't really doing much to help you, the job becomes very difficult to do on your own. Willy, as much as i like his game when he's on his best, on his worst he is absolutely a disgrace. At this point i don't know whether we should trade or not because when he's working hard he's a beauty but i just don't see this consistency. Anyways, i honestly don't think it's Matthews we should be worried about. Give me someone on that line that can win some battles so Matty can do his thing and then we can talk about work ethic and everything else because i see that line as just not clicking much.

 

[Cleetus]

Trade Willy for Anderson & Savard and let Matthews be the puck carrier, hes more dangerous that way, Anderson would allow him to play a strong cycle game and use his big body without fear of being targeted physically.

Johnss0n - Matthews - Anderson

Willy would last a week with his Defensive game under Tortz, guy would be in the press box that being said no way CBJ does this.....

 

[MarnerElite]

Trade Willy for Anderson & Savard and let Matthews be the puck carrier, hes more dangerous that way, Anderson would allow him to play a strong cycle game and use his big body without fear of being targeted physically.

Johnss0n - Matthews - Anderson

Yeah that's what my post is basically saying. That could work.

 

[Future]

We are frustrated because he has the most player friendly contract in the league but he looks like he is overpaid.

The team isn’t playing well and not living up to the hype, so by default the problem is our best player who has 11 goals in 15 games?

Come on.

The problem is the way we play, the accumulation of smaller errors that have a significant impact on the outcome of the game. Don’t know how many times I have to say that it all leads back to the coaching and has for quite some time.

 

[Paradoc]

A majority? He went on a streak of 5 of 6 games where he was invisible.

Really? Which games are you referring to specifically?

 

[Suntouchable13]

The team isn’t playing well and not living up to the hype, so by default the problem is our best player who has 11 goals in 15 games?

Come on.

The problem is the way we play, the accumulation of smaller errors that have a significant impact on the outcome of the game. Don’t know how many times I have to say that it all leads back to the coaching and has for quite some time.

Ok, I don't disagree about the coaching but he needs to take over games and be dominant. I have not seen that.

 

[LeafGrief]

Matthews was insane against Washington and then invisible against Philly tonight. Lately it’s seemed like he’s been alternating between good game/bad game. He needs to dig deep and find consistency game in and game out. He looked like a top5 player against Washington and I barely noticed his line on the ice tonight. I expect a lot more from him.

 

[biotk]

Lately it’s seemed like he’s been alternating between good game/bad game.

Too bad the Leafs' couldn't alternate between paying him and not paying him.

 

[ORRFForever]

Really? Which games are you referring to specifically?

From Detroit (Oct 12) to Montreal (Oct 26) he was invisible in every game but Columbus.

And yes, he probable got a point per game - a tap in, a fly by goal when the game was out of reach, a goal with 30 seconds left, or a cheap assist. But he did NOTHING other than get that point.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Easily our best player this year and it's not even close, but he could stand to be better so he's public enemy #1 of our players

 

[ORRFForever]

 

[stickty111]

When a player gets Babcock's coaching, this is what happens. Many players are regressing under him.

 

[ORRFForever]

Easily our best player this year and it's not even close

If true, that's just sad.

 

[IPS]

Yeah the guy was 2nd in goals as a rookie and led the league in ES goals. He was anything but soft in his 1st year.

He decided it wasn't worth going full throttle because even though he's proven to be one of the best if not the best goal scorer in the world, Babcock won't put him any position to prove he's the best in the world.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

Matthews does not look like the same player he was even 2 years ago. He has definitely regressed defensively and in compete level. He has rarely dominated a game. It's not that he's playing bad, but he's just not playing to his contract.

 

[ORRFForever]

Matthews does not look like the same player he was even 2 years ago. He has definitely regressed defensively and in compete level. He has rarely dominated a game. It's not that he's playing bad, but he's just not playing to his contract.

Yes to all of that. He is scared of contact and that prevents him from making a difference - his fear of being hit didn't appear until after he started getting injured.

 

[ORRFForever]

Unfortunately, he can hide behind his numbers. When someone criticizes him, a Matthews' apologist will say, "Have you seen his stats?" - which are very good.

It makes making the case that he is invisible very difficult.

 

[The Examiner]

Matthews was insane against Washington and then invisible against Philly tonight. Lately it’s seemed like he’s been alternating between good game/bad game. He needs to dig deep and find consistency game in and game out. He looked like a top5 player against Washington and I barely noticed his line on the ice tonight. I expect a lot more from him.

He was awful in the 2 Boston games and the Columbus game. That was 3 in a row. He may have 11 goals but 5 of them were in the first 3 games. He’s dogging it the majority of the time and can’t be arsed to put in an effort EVERY night.

He talked his BS about needing to be better and then came out the next game, somehow, playing worse.

He’s still very young but it is worrying.

Tiny, little Pettersson took a shot the other day. What did he do? He went and played harder and took a nice run at the guy, clean.

Eichel, McDavid, Laine etc, don’t put up with that bullshit. They go harder and make the other team pay on the scoreboard- EVERY NIGHT.

I’m sorry, Matthews doesn’t do that and until he develops a mean streak, it’s going to continue to be frustrating.

It also doesn’t help that the rest of the league knows they can take liberties on this team and nothing will happen. I don’t even care about fighting. Just go out there and play hard. Battle, finish your checks and show like you give a f*** for 2 seconds.

 

[Menzinger]

Unfortunately, he can hide behind his numbers. When someone criticizes him, a Matthews' apologist will say, "Have you seen his stats?" - which are very good.

It makes making the case that he is invisible very difficult.

Id say the 11 goals is a pretty good argument against him being "invisible" at least in terms of the season long perspective vs an individual game