Auston Matthews Thread

[koyvoo]

Only one goal on the road all season and it came in the 2nd game of the year. Definitely needs to change if this road trip isn’t to be a complete disaster.

 

[Stamkos4life]

Trust me, that's as good as it gets.

Nice little jab there.

 

[Stamkos4life]

Why even compare him to McDavid?

Because a poster said that if we had mcdavid, we would also turn on him. Just as we have with auston.

I am showing the difference between the two in an attempt to illustrate why that is blatantly false.

If we had McDavid, he would be a god here.

 

[ULF_55]

Way to go quoting half of my post.

What do you mean, "didnt"?

Are you saying we "didnt" go anywhere with lou as gm? Because we did better with lou then dubas. And we haven't gone anywhere with Kyle. Does that mean we should fire him as well?

I want auston to be the best leaf of all time. After his rookie year I thought he was destined to be. Couple years later and I'm seriously starting to doubt it.

Leafs haven't won a round since 2003-2004 season have they? So no, Lamoriello didn't take them anywhere.

I'm not sure but Matthews doesn't seem like the player he was, and seems to be regressing as the season moves along.

 

[Stamkos4life]

Leafs haven't won a round since 2003-2004 season have they? So no, Lamoriello didn't take them anywhere.

I'm not sure but Matthews doesn't seem like the player he was, and seems to be regressing as the season moves along.

Dubas hasn't taken us anywhere. Using the same logic, that means we were never going anywhere with dubas as gm either.

I dont buy that.

I hope it's something minor with auston. I used to think he was 1b to McDavid. He still has the talent to be. But something is wrong

 

[Stamkos4life]

Few years ago it was Draisaitl that was over payed on here. Now you guys say he’s under payed in 2 years Matthews will be under payed that’s the cap era

That's the beauty of the 5 year deal.

It will only be good value for maybe 1-2 years. For the rest of it he will be expensive.

Where as McDavid, drai, eichel, etc, all signed 8 year deals.

 

[horner]

This is the time that we need to have Mathews and Tavares impose there will on the the game.

I don't see it.

Watched the Colorado game last night and McKinnon without his regular linemates not even missing a beat.
He was non stop skating all night.
Don't see it in Mathews or Taveras

 

[MyBudJT]

This is the time that we need to have Mathews and Tavares impose there will on the the game.

I don't see it.

Watched the Colorado game last night and McKinnon without his regular linemates not even missing a beat.
He was non stop skating all night.
Don't see it in Mathews or Taveras

I don’t remember the last time Matthews hasn’t taken half a game off.... I’m not sure if I’ve seen it, actually...

 

[horner]

I don’t remember the last time Matthews hasn’t taken half a game off.... I’m not sure if I’ve seen it, actually...

Same with me.
He layed his shoulder into someone last night and I went wow.
Then the rest of the night stick check.
Iitsvso frustrating watching him because we all know that he can take over a game if he wants to.
I just don't know if he has it in him.

 

[Judas Tavares]

Apparently he is 8th in the league in faceoff percentage at 59.1%. Now his sample size is smaller cause Babcock, he only takes 11.7 per game while guys in the upper end are at just over 20. But still, its a good stat and something that's needed to be an all around centre. He still has work to do in areas, but nice this is an area he is really doing well in.

Yes, I know "He makes almost McDavid money, he should be winning every faceoff" or whatever the retort. I understand. But at this point what's done is done with the money, hopefully he can make the steps to become more like Draisaitl, Barkov and MacKinnon.

Also, maybe if he's winning this many draws, he could be trusted to take more? With Tavares in the lineup and Gauthier really shining there as well, I'm not expecting 20 a game like the leaders, but more would be nice.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

Matthews has looked bad most games this year. He was still somehow putting up good numbers in October (like he always does), but October Matthews always comes back down to earth by December.
He’s only a few points above ppg after his usual outrageous hot start. And he barely looks like he’s trying. That contracts not looking too good....

 

[6ix]

Matthews has looked bad most games this year. He was still somehow putting up good numbers in October (like he always does), but October Matthews always comes back down to earth by December.
He’s only a few points above ppg after his usual outrageous hot start. And he barely looks like he’s trying. That contracts not looking too good....

He’s been miles better than Tavares. Tavares’ play has been disgusting for a veteran captain. What a mistake the Tavares signing was.

 

[shaner82]

Leafs haven't won a round since 2003-2004 season have they? So no, Lamoriello didn't take them anywhere.

I'm not sure but Matthews doesn't seem like the player he was, and seems to be regressing as the season moves along.

We don't know the extent, but Babcock and Matthews had issues years ago. Babcock is also known as a guy that many of his players don't like. Right or wrong, perhaps Matthews is struggling to play for Babs. It's gotta be tough to get every day and play for a coach you hate and don't believe in. We of course don't know if that's true, but there's enough evidence out there to indicate that there's a good possibility it's true. As time goes on, it's probably getting harder and harder. When was the last time AM seemed to be having fun?

 

[saffronleaf]

Given that we have been eliminated from playoff contention, one of the few reasons to tune in is to see Matthews and Nylander be a dynamic duo. Hopefully Matthews puts up some big numbers. We're like how Oilers fans used to be -- no chance of playoffs, but at least fun watching McDavid put up some big numbers.

 

[BayStreetBully]

Given that we have been eliminated from playoff contention, one of the few reasons to tune in is to see Matthews and Nylander be a dynamic duo. Hopefully Matthews puts up some big numbers. We're like how Oilers fans used to be -- no chance of playoffs, but at least fun watching McDavid put up some big numbers.

Sounds like a chore. I liked it better when we were playing like cup contenders.

 

[LeafGrief]

Matthews has been the Leafs best player by a mile and a half this year. No one else even really comes close. Tavares has been awful, Marner has been awful, Nylander has been good but isn't on the same planet, Rielly has been awful and Andersen has been disappointing. There have been quite a few games where Matthews hasn't played well and there was that two week stretch where he looked lost and disengaged, but before and since that down time he's really taken his game to another level. Is he great defensively? No, but everyone on the Leafs looks like they stopped learning defense in peewee. Does he compete every game? No, the Leafs look like they left their guts on the bus half the time. Held to the standards of the league, he's been an exceptionally talented but slightly disappointing player. Held up to the standards of the Maple Leafs he looks like Atlas struggling to hold up the weight of a team that is their own worse enemy.

I think Mackinnon was an interesting comparison. 31 points in 21 games for Mackinnon, 27 points in 23 games for Matthews. However, at even strength they both have 20 points. Mackinnon has 11 points on the PP while Matthews has just 7. If the Leafs powerplay was even remotely a factor, Matthews would be neck-in-neck with Mackinnon in scoring. Matthews has been driving his line and they've been the only Maple Leafs who even look like NHL'ers the past few weeks. Is there still criticism for how they've played? Absolutely, he's got way more to give for his 200 foot game. But he's on an island with how he's looked compared to his teammates.

 

[biotk]

Matthews has looked bad most games this year. He was still somehow putting up good numbers in October (like he always does), but October Matthews always comes back down to earth by December.
He’s only a few points above ppg after his usual outrageous hot start. And he barely looks like he’s trying. That contracts not looking too good....

Matthews has had December's basically on par with his October's in 2 out of 3 seasons. (The other one was injury plagued with a lot of missed games).

Like the "Marner always starts out slow" belief (which is not true) almost all of these types of patterns people see they either are not there or are meaningless statistical noise.

 

[forecheck]

I suggest Load Management for AM - Let him only play home games - he would like that too.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

He’s been miles better than Tavares. Tavares’ play has been disgusting for a veteran captain. What a mistake the Tavares signing was.

Tavares hasn’t looked good either. But he signed a fair contract for an unrestricted free agent. Fair contracts come with fair expectations. Hope he turns it around.
Matthews contract is outrageous. Outrageous contracts come with outrageous expectations. His play has been unacceptable.

 

[forecheck]

Tavares hasn’t looked good either. But he signed a fair contract for an unrestricted free agent. Fair contracts come with fair expectations. Hope he turns it around.
Matthews contract is outrageous. Outrageous contracts come with outrageous expectations. His play has been unacceptable.

His effort level is often suspect .

 

[stickty111]

His line is the only line that consistently creates offense in the game.

 

[Sypher04]

Some of you in here really need to take a step back and reset. Matthews has been the best player on this team by a fair margin so far this season. Has it been perfect, hell no, but some of the comments in here are purely ridiculous

 

[Durrr]

Matthews has looked bad most games this year. He was still somehow putting up good numbers in October (like he always does), but October Matthews always comes back down to earth by December.
He’s only a few points above ppg after his usual outrageous hot start. And he barely looks like he’s trying. That contracts not looking too good....

Are you actually watching the game? Matthews and Nylander were buzzing and generating chances all night yesterday, and most nights through this stretch & season they are the only dangerous Leafs line.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

Matthews has had December's basically on par with his October's in 2 out of 3 seasons. (The other one was injury plagued with a lot of missed games).

Like the "Marner always starts out slow" belief (which is not true) almost all of these types of patterns people see they either are not there or are meaningless statistical noise.

In the month of October his first three years, Matthews scored at a 65 goal/107 point pace over 82. FAR higher than his career averages. He’s better in October. Always.

 

[Judas Tavares]

Matthews needs to be better in certain areas of the game and at more times. Absolutely. That becomes more critical when he's your highest paid player.

But of all the laundry list of problems on this team, he should be nowhere near the top. Especially when he is being neutered by his boss.