Auston Matthews

[Finn16]

IF IT WAS YOU, and you had 2 shoulder injuries in the year before you had a chance at an $80M contract, wouldn't you be more cautious / hesitant?

No explanation is necessary. Just a simple Yes or No, please.

Your changing what you have been saying...Matthews being more cautious/hesitant makes sense. You have suggested that he should refuse to take any contact and essentially play with "bubble wrap on". You also said 99% people would do the same...

That is NOT the same thing as playing cautious.

 

[ORRFForever]

Your changing what you have been saying...Matthews being more cautious/hesitant makes sense. You have suggested that he should refuse to take any contact and essentially play with "bubble wrap on". You also said 99% people would do the same...

That is NOT the same thing as playing cautious.

I didn't say he should refuse to take a contract. I think he should sign and get on with his career.

What I said, or at least what I meant to say was :

"99% of people who were on the verge of signing a BIG contract, especially if they had injury issues, would do everything they can to avoid injury and ruin their chance of a big payday - even if it hurt their production."

 

[Stephen]

Racing down the left side and then going high glove is his bread and butter, and it has served him well. However, teams have picked up on it.

He has also been unable to hang out in front of the net. Early in the season, he was always there. Now... he floats around the perimeter of the net, hoping a puck will spill out.

Me thinks the hit by Trouba, when Matthews actually drove hard to the net, really shook him up / scared him. It wasn't much of a hit, yet it cost him a month. Maybe he's worried about his ability to stay healthy.

A player like Matthews can't be scared or forced to the perimeter if his bread and butter is scoring and not perimeter playmaking. This is just a slump, so I'm not going to full on panic, but to give an example, a scared, perimeter playing Eric Lindros was basically nothing compared to what he was in his prime. Matthews is no Lindros, but he can't be soft.

 

[ORRFForever]

...scared, perimeter playing Eric Lindros was basically nothing compared to what he was in his prime. Matthews is no Lindros, but he can't be soft.

Hopefully he isn't turning into Lindros 2.0.

 

[Mr Hockey]

		Scor	Scor	Scor		Goal	Goal	Goal	Goal			Per	Per	Per	Per	Poin	Adju	Adju	Adju
Player	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	EV	PP	SH	GW	S	S%	G	A	PTS	S	PS	G	A	PTS
Jack Eichel	254	89	140	229	-46	64	25	0	15	915	9.7	0.35	0.55	0.90	3.60	25.0	111	180	291
Patrik Laine	203	105	63	168	6	65	40	0	16	611	17.2	0.52	0.31	0.83	3.01	22.8	133	74	207
Auston Matthews	178	94	80	174	27	74	20	0	17	572	16.4	0.53	0.45	0.98	3.21	23.7	118	103	221
Connor McDavid	257	116	212	328	48	96	18	2	25	787	14.7	0.45	0.82	1.28	3.06	40.3	148	262	410

[thead] [/thead]

 

[Divine]

We may actually have that situation.

Like I said many times...

If it was me, I'd encase myself in bubble wrap.
If you'd play hard and risk the big contract, you're a better person than me.

Yeah, but by playing bad, you're also risking the big contract, aren't you?

 

[Stephen]

Hopefully he isn't turning into Lindros 2.0.

I don't truly believe he is, but a 6'3" 220 pound center can't be circling around the net and being pushed beyond the face off circle like it's roller derby.

 

[Bluelines]

Like I said, if it was you, wouldn't you also be afraid to lose a big contract? I would.

In all honesty I've never had $100 million in front of me, so I can't answer your question.

I do know that I'm unusually competitive at sports, I hate to lose/get beat. I've sprained an ankle, pulled my chest muscles on both sides, broke four fingers in one game, numerous minor strains/sprains, pulled my hammy, hyper-extended my elbow and knee, had my nose broken multiple times, lost a tooth, multiple black eyes on multiple occasions, split my head open just above my eyelid, split the back of my head open on the ice, multiple concussions, had my big toenail ripped off, bruises / bone bruises were very common, took a baseball bat to the side of my head, took a baseball bat to my shin, been beaned (baseball) so many times I can't count them, had my hands, feet, legs, ears raked by cleats, heat exhaustion, dehydration (hospitalized for a few hours the last two). I'm sure there are more that I don't remember and that was all for the love of competition and I still love to compete, even after all that abuse. If you are a competitor, it's hard not to compete at an all out level. I personally feel like I'm being shady if I sandbag my effort, I might have a different opinion if I had $100 mil on the line.

 

[ORRFForever]

In all honesty I've never had $100 million in front of me, so I can't answer your question.
...I might have a different opinion if I had $100 mil on the line.

It's like that one comedian said (I can't remember his name) :

"For a million dollars, I'd suck Mike Tyson's <bleep> in front of my parents. How bad could it be?"

Imagine 80 times that million dollars. A LOT of money, indeed.

 

[ORRFForever]

Yeah, but by playing bad, you're also risking the big contract, aren't you?

Yes, but by how much?

If you play like a slug for the remainder of the season, you'd still get $8M/yr minimum - just based on Matthews' pedigree and past accomplishments.

If you ruin your shoulder, you could lose it all.

 

[Nineteen67]

After being injured twice this season, Matthews probably feels vulnerable. That vulnerability is making him cautious. It would make me cautious.

Plus, I guarantee his agent and parents are in his ear - reminding him how much he has to lose.

You do know that insurance is available if they are that concerned with injury.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

My fear is he will ask and get $12M.

x 8 ?

i think he takes 10 x 6.

 

[ORRFForever]

You do know that insurance is available if they are that concerned with injury.

I don't know what to say. Again, I would just avoid injury until I signed, but that's just me.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

I see Marner bringing it nightly and his payday is on the same date as Matthews.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

I don't know what to say. Again, I would just avoid injury until I signed, but that's just me.

What an absolute nonsense argument you've been making in this thread. I mean really, it's just batshit.

I'm sorry, but if this was really about "paying off his poor mom's debt", he likely could have signed for 10x8 last year and insured it. He could probably do it right now! That's not enough? And in regards to his old man getting hurt before his big payday, doesn't the same thing apply?

Instead, he's going to coast through the season and just not care? You really think that makes Matthews look better? You really think that's a smart play for him?

It's just nuts.

It's too much.

 

[ORRFForever]

What an absolute nonsense argument you've been making in this thread. I mean really, it's just bat****.

I'm sorry, but if this was really about "paying off his poor mom's debt", he likely could have signed for 10x8 last year and insured it. He could probably do it right now! That's not enough? And in regards to his old man getting hurt before his big payday, doesn't the same thing apply?

Instead, he's going to coast through the season and just not care? You really think that makes Matthews look better? You really think that's a smart play for him?

It's just nuts.

It's too much.

Fair enough. I don't want to argue anymore so...

 

[great]

Seems injured should rest up until 100%, not 70, or 80 but the 100%

 

[Stephen]

I see Marner bringing it nightly and his payday is on the same date as Matthews.

It's also kind of funny now that Matthews is semi lobbying or discussing the possibility of playing with Marner, like Marner's turned into the franchise player Matthews is supposed to be. It's like a St Louis vs Lecavalier situation where the little guy consistently surpasses the big glamorous centerman. Anyway, good for Marner, but to truly get going as a contender we need these guys to be one upping each other all the time.

 

[Divine]

Yes, but by how much?

If you play like a slug for the remainder of the season, you'd still get $8M/yr minimum - just based on Matthews' pedigree and past accomplishments.

If you ruin your shoulder, you could lose it all.

No you wouldn't. You think if Matthews is scoring 1.3-1.5PPG and has another injury, that teams won't give him 11M+ per season?

Playing well will net more money, regardless of injuries, especially at this point in his career. Crosby was injured in his contract year coming off an ELC, that didn't stop him.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

We may actually have that situation.

Like I said many times...

If it was me, I'd encase myself in bubble wrap.
If you'd play hard and risk the big contract, you're a better person than me.

Yes, you have said that many, many times.

 

[Notsince67]

IF IT WAS YOU, and you had 2 shoulder injuries in the year before you had a chance at an $80M contract, wouldn't you be more cautious / hesitant?

No explanation is necessary. Just a simple Yes or No, please.

No

 

[Bluelines]

You do know that insurance is available if they are that concerned with injury.

That was what I was wondering if a player could take out an insurance policy to replace his lost wages?

 

[Bluelines]

It's also kind of funny now that Matthews is semi lobbying or discussing the possibility of playing with Marner, like Marner's turned into the franchise player Matthews is supposed to be. It's like a St Louis vs Lecavalier situation where the little guy consistently surpasses the big glamorous centerman. Anyway, good for Marner, but to truly get going as a contender we need these guys to be one upping each other all the time.

If that is the case, I sure don't like the thought that a guy who is supposed to be a line driver is looking for someone else to drive Matthews line. #someoneelse Confidence might be lacking a bit or maybe he played like s#!t to force Babcock to put Marner on his line. #selfish?

 

[RLF]

That was what I was wondering if a player could take out an insurance policy to replace his lost wages?

I think they all have insurance in case of injury.

 

[Bluelines]

I didn't say he should refuse to take a contract. I think he should sign and get on with his career.

What I said, or at least what I meant to say was :

"99% of people who were on the verge of signing a BIG contract, especially if they had injury issues, would do everything they can to avoid injury and ruin their chance of a big payday - even if it hurt their production."

Yeah I don't think its a bad theory but if it's true it does not say a lot about Matthews integrity. Consider Leaf favorites like Salming, Clark, Gilmour ... not a me first type of players. It's probably the smart move but not the move I would want if he was my teammate.