I wouldn’t be surprised if Matthews won the Art Ross

[Jot]

Deja vu.

I recall him getting to a hot start last year as well. Then a thread stating he is better than McDavid thread showed up.

50 goals is achievable for him easily.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Yep. Idk about an Art Ross but people just laughing off Leafs fans haven't been watching Matthews this year.

I was at the game tonight. He was simply on another level than every other player from both teams. And his improved acceleration makes him downright scary to watch in person. Big dude who can wheel, snipe, deke and consistently win puck battles. Outside of McDavid I'm not sure how many guys will be clearly better than Matthews this year.

Such a treat to see in person.

Mathews is honestly the American version of Malkin

 

[GreatSaveLuongo]

It's nice that McDavid now has competition. Watch Mathews gets paid based on this breakout year.

 

[Varan]

fam connor mcbestplayerintheworld is still here. it's that whoever made the oilers schedule was terrible

 

[Varan]

this is the annual overreaction period of the NHL, where tons of players have great starts and everyone's like "ouuu". then regression to the mean occurs and everyone comes back to their senses

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Mathews is honestly the American version of Malkin

Came here to post this. I see a lot of Kopitar comparisons but he just reminds me of Malkin everytime I watch him. Similar skating stride, big frame and both are obviously in possession of special skill sets.

 

[TDK67]

Mathews has Jamie Benns body with more speed and hands/shot like Pat Kane. He's a power forward with mobility and elite talent

Yea, agreed and I think its great he doesn't actually play like a typical power forward (i.e throwing tons of hits and trying to body everyone all the time) as it won't wear him down as much in the long run.

 

[MapleLeafs9]

Mathews is honestly the American version of Malkin

I never really liked this comparison tbh. Matthews reminds me more of Jagr, but with less strength and more speed.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

You have to admit Mathews looks different, he doesn't look like a kid out there, he looks like he's starting to master the mental side, also you can tell he's growing into his body now

 

[HugginThePost]

I still think McDavid is on a whole different planet so winning the Art Ross would be a huge stretch. But anyone who was complaining a few weeks ago about why Matthews was ranked so high in pretty much every player ranking list should be tuning in to watch this guy play to see why those rankings were justified. He's clearly as good as anyone in the game today not named McDavid. Sure you can fall back on the wait and see until he proves it over a full season argument, but that's not gonna change the fact he's already at that level. All it's gonna do is help convince the doubters of what is already obvious to a lot of people.

Or, you know, wait until he isn't playing against three teams that will most likely be finishing bottom 5? Seems legit, no?

 

[TDK67]

this is the annual overreaction period of the NHL, where tons of players have great starts and everyone's like "ouuu". then regression to the mean occurs and everyone comes back to their senses

You mean Matthews won't keep up this 137G & 219P pace?

I think some people are trying to say its not just about the numbers. Matthews *looks* that much better this year. Shouldn't be that controversial considering the significant leaps most elite players make in their first few years.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Came here to post this. I see a lot of Kopitar comparisons but he just reminds me of Malkin everytime I watch him. Similar skating stride, big frame and both are obviously in possession of special skill sets.

I had originally posted he's like a Benn/Kane Hybrid but that's essentially Malkin..but you can see the North American style in Mathews

 

[LeafsNation75]

Or, you know, wait until he isn't playing against three teams that will most likely be finishing bottom 5? Seems legit, no?

It's not Matthews fault for how the Leafs schedule was made to start the season. Besides he's already proven he can score and put up points against any team in the league. The only team who has never scored a goal or had an assist against is the Blues.

 

[Cleatus]

Pretty sure McDavid still wins the Art Ross. Don't be surprised to see Matthews in the running for it, though.

 

[GlitchMarner]

Looking forward to a year or two when the leafs are back in the basement and their fans go into hiding again

Do the Sabres need more company?

 

[slimbob8]

Or, you know, wait until he isn't playing against three teams that will most likely be finishing bottom 5? Seems legit, no?

Dude, you think the fact he's playing against bottom feeding teams makes the type of talent he's showing out there any less real? That 1st goal of the season he had is one very few players in the league are capable of scoring and zero goalies in the league would be capable of stopping. I don't care what team it was against.

 

[HugginThePost]

It's not Matthews fault for how the Leafs schedule was made to start the season. Besides he's already proven he can score and put up points against any team in the league. The only team who has never scored a goal or had an assist against is the Blues.

I'm in no way saying that he can't score....we all know he can.

All I'm saying is that if I were a conspiracy guy, I might take note that the Leafs have had the softest start to the 18/19 schedule. The first six games against teams that were really bad last year, and only one of them may be good this year. I'll sit up and take notice after they play Washington and the 6 games following that. Their schedule gets a lot tougher at that point.

I might also be worried that even though they're scoring at a nice clip, they have lost one and the other two have had to go to OT to get the win.

That's three games I'd be thinking the "#1 Cup contenders" should be getting the upper hand on pretty easily, no??

 

[Sensators]

I think he could if he got more ice time - I don't think he will though because there isn't much point to playing him 20 mins/game. Around 10th in points is my guess.

He might be the best finisher in the league with his consistently insane 5v5 oish%.

 

[Ainec]

he starts out hot every season, maybe he can sustain it

I think Marner has a real chance of breaking out more

 

[LeafsNation75]

I'm in no way saying that he can't score....we all know he can.

All I'm saying is that if I were a conspiracy guy, I might take note that the Leafs have had the softest start to the 18/19 schedule. The first six games against teams that were really bad last year, and only one of them may be good this year. I'll sit up and take notice after they play Washington and the 6 games following that. Their schedule gets a lot tougher at that point.

I might also be worried that even though they're scoring at a nice clip, they have lost one and the other two have had to go to OT to get the win.

That's three games I'd be thinking the "#1 Cup contenders" should be getting the upper hand on pretty easily, no??

One can also argue that why did the Leafs start with 2 straight games at home and 4 straight road games right after that? Either way it all balances out for every team and they eventually play everyone else at least 2x a year if they are not in the same conference.

 

[Semantics]

Matthews may not be as good as McDavid, but he absolutely destroys him in personality.

 

[6ix]

It will be hard to beat McDavid, because once the oilers are out of playoff contention by mid November, teams will start playing their backup goalies against them so he can rack up those points again like last year!

 

[HugginThePost]

One can also argue that why did the Leafs start with 2 straight games at home and 4 straight road games right after that? Either way it all balances out for every team and they eventually play everyone else at least 2x a year if they are not in the same conference.

Exactly......so let's have this discussion in December.

 

[Shayne Corsi]

Even leaving aside the obvious small sample caveat, Matthews has started all three of his NHL seasons en fuego, so I wouldn't give too much credence to three games. That said, given that he'll be facing easier match-ups on average than last season; that he'll be getting about 50% more PP time with substantially better personnel around him; that, development wise, he's still on an upward trajectory towards his peak seasons; and that he was already over a PPG last season despite that average being dragged down by playing injured / adjusting after a long injury layoff ... it's not ridiculous to think that he could score in the 90-100 point range and compete for the Art Ross. I still think he's a huge dog to McDavid, because some of the same qualifications above also apply to McDavid and because CMac is just head and shoulders better than everyone else in the league. But I'll grant that if things break right, it's not inconceivable that he could win it.

 

[Dustin]

I seriously don't think anyone can call an Art Ross 3 games into the season but if the question is if I think Matthews can win an Art Ross over his career, I say yes.

McDavid will have injured years or down years and other players will take advantage on those years. I can see Eichel, MacKinnon, Barzal and several other younger players take a run at it.