Is Matthews making Ovi look a bit replacable?

[Darkwinter]

Ovi is seen by some as the last player that will ever hit 700 goals, the best goal scorer ever etc. Matthews last season had 55 goal pace, this season 62 goal pace, and has never had below a 40 goal pace over 82.

Could Matthews also be a candidate to top 894? His scoring consistency is starting to make Ovi's numbers look like they aren't that special. I know Ovi has won the Richard for a long time and I like Ovi, so kindly post only if you have something to add here.

I just don't see Ovi being as special as he's made out to be from a goal scoring perspective (he is good at other things like playmaking) with Matthews performing like this (if he can keep this consistency). That is all.

grasping at air don't ya think

 

[shaner8989]

Ovy is the GOAT scorer... is Matthews on his way to that? Yes but still a long way to go

 

[Thrasymachus]

lol what even is this thread?

Ovi is in his mid thirties

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

U24 goals/game

Ovechkin - . 68
Matthews - .58
Stamkos - .57
Kovalchuk - .52
Crosby - .52

Is Matthews the best goal scorer since Ovie? Strong argument there. Best goal scorer of his generation? Strong argument there. One of the best goal scoring C's of all time? Strong argument there.

On the same level as Ovie?

No chance.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I mean, Ovi is 35 so someone should have dethroned him a while ago. It's absurd what he's doing into his mid-30's and it's his longevity, consistency, and durability that make him so unique. Just as a reminder...

• Ovi ranks 1st in active players in goals scored at 725. The player who ranks 2nd, Patrick Marleau, is six years older than Ovi and has played 574 more games than Ovi and has scored "only" 565 goals, or 160 goals less than Ovi.
• To put that into perspective, the gap between #1 and #2, Ovechkin and Marleau, is larger than the gap between Marleau and Patrick Kane, who ranks 8th on the active-player goal list, by two goals.
• If you added Zach Parise and and Jeff Carter (9th and 10th on the active list) together, they'd have played in 936 more games than Ovechkin (2,123 vs 1,187) but would have only scored 53 more total goals than Ovechkin (778 combined goals vs 725 goals). Ovechkin is in a class all by himself even amongst the best goal scorers of this generation.
• No other current player has 500 goals. Sid is third at 477 so he's a lock to get to 500 but the only other solid bets to get to even 500 are Stamkos (438), Malkin (424), and Kane (403). 600 is likely out of reach for anyone but Crosby and maybe Stamkos. No else will sniff 700. (I'm not counting anyone under the age of 27 or 28 since there's not a long enough track record to say they'll hit 500, though a few current young guys have a good shot if they keep their current paces up.)
  
• Ovechkin's G/GP average, even at age 35, is 0.61. Auston Matthews' is 0.58. Connor McDavid, who is probably the best player in the world, sits at 0.47. Wayne Gretzky's is 0.60.

Matthews is terrific and the sky is the limit for him but eight people in the history of the sport have scored 700 goals. It's the rarest of company in the NHL. He needs to do what he's doing and get even better at it and keep it going for another decade just to have a shot at keeping pace with #8.

 

[Satire]

Nah according to HF its blasphemy to think that Matthews is now the best goal scorer in the NHL.

I think most would agree with this. But the thread is talking about Matthews matching Ovi who is still far ahead at this point. As someone said, thread is lightyears too early. Even comparing their first 5 years in the League it's not all that close.

 

[GeeoffBrown]

Is Matthews even a better goalscorer than David Pastrnak?

 

[Demandedace]

This thread is on pace to be one of illpucks’ worst

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Is Matthews even a better goalscorer than David Pastrnak?

Yes.

 

[Peasy]

I think most would agree with this. But the thread is talking about Matthews matching Ovi who is still far ahead at this point. As someone said, thread is lightyears too early. Even comparing their first 5 years in the League it's not all that close.

Matthews has grabbed the torch from Ovi?

I mean just look through this thread... People will bend over backwards and move the goal posts as much as they can to discredit Matthews' goal scoring prowess since entering the league.

Its honestly a shame that just because he is a Leaf, a large group of people feel the need to hate him and not appreciate his talents.

Like how many times a day do people rip on Matthews for his mustache or other physical appearances? I don't see that ever happening to someone like Pasta or Ovie.

 

[Puckstop40]

They score in different ways but Ovi has never done anything like this in his career and it makes it look like this is a new level of goalscoring

By this outlandish statement, I have to assume you have only recently started watching hockey. Go watch any of the hundreds of Ovi highlights on Youtube and circle back to this comment.

 

[Cenzo_]

Too bad Matthews will dump the Leafs in 2024 to go to the Hockey blackhole that is the Coyotes and lose all hope to become the greatest goal scorer for the next 1000 years

 

[Deen]

Matthews has to do it for 20 years. Thread is ridiculous. I bet you think Marner is going to pass Gretzky in assists too.

 

[Peasy]

Is Matthews even a better goalscorer than David Pastrnak?

Since Matthews has entered the league, Pasta has only had one season where he had a better goals per game average than Matthews. And that was last season...where he beat him by one goal in the same number of games played...

But yes, this must mean Pastrnak is definitely the better goalscorer.

 

[LokiDog]

Ovie is going to have a tough time getting there and there’s debate over whether he’ll stay productive enough or play long enough.

At age 23 Matthews has 186 goals. He may add another 10-12 before the year ends.

At the end of his age 23 Ovechkin had 219 goals.

Ovie also didn’t have a 19 year old season due to lockout. Matthews has missed a lot of games and Ovie never missed games, so the games played to this point in their careers is similar. Matthews will have played 11 more games at the end of their 23 year old seasons, despite playing a full extra year. He’ll be about 25 goals behind Ovie in 11 more games.

Matthews will have to start being healthy every single game and have a VERY long career. Keep in mind that Ovie is 12 years (to the day!) older than Matthews and while Matthews scored 47 in 70 last year, Ovie scored 48 in 68. Will Matthews still be pacing for 56 goals when he’s 35? It’s very unlikely but not impossible.

 

[Dekes For Days]

I mean, he's not the best goal-scorer ever, he's certainly not going to be the last to hit 700 goals, and Matthews has definitely been underappreciated, but what Ovechkin's done is still pretty special and rare.

 

[BFLO]

Matthews is the next Stamkos. Nothing against AM34 or Stammer as both are amazing players capable of similar short term peaks to Ovi (60+goal season), but not durable enough to equal the longevity of Ovi's peak or career in general.

 

[crowi]

P A C E

 

[GRob83]

Ovechkin would probably be passing Gretzkys goal record next season or the season after if it weren't for lockouts and shortened seasons so Matthews has a LOOOOOOOONG way to go to even be in the conversation.

 

[violaswallet]

I’m excited to see AM’s performance on the Coyotes in a few and when he breaks 600!

 

[Nostradumbass]

They score in different ways but Ovi has never done anything like this in his career and it makes it look like this is a new level of goalscoring

McDavid just did that yesterday at the end of a 2 minute shift...

 

[X66]

Matthews legitimately probably should have won 2 rockets by now, and it could have all come down to PP time.

His rookie year he finished tied for 2nd 4 goals short of the title, 70 minutes less on the PP than Crosby

Last year he finished 2nd(season cut short) 1 goal off the title, 100 less minutes on the PP than Ovechkin and 40 less minutes than Pastrnak on the PP

3 rockets in his first 5 years would have been insane(assuming he wins this year) lol.

 

[dukeofjive]

 

[The Abusement Park]

They score in different ways but Ovi has never done anything like this in his career and it makes it look like this is a new level of goalscoring

Are we sure about that? Also Matthews will never do something like this.

 

[Example]

I'm in disbelief over the mental gymnastics going on in this thread.

Matthews is an elite goal scorer. One of the best in the game today.

Firstly, in context of other players in the league today, I could give a shit less about "goals per 60". Goals per game is definitely more relevant, but let's stop extrapolating everything to 82 games just to pump up his tires. The reality is you play hockey and a number of games based on how often you're healthy and/or not scratched (the latter obviously not an issue for Matthews here).

If he's unable to stay healthy, sorry but that does impact how he compares to others. It doesn't make him any less amazing at what he does, but you're insane to look at him putting up less goals than someone else and saying "but he's better if he played more games"; well, he didn't.

In regards to Ovechkin, how this is even a debate is beyond me. Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer of all time. Matthews has had a few good and great seasons. They are not the same. Right now what Matthews is doing is similar but slightly worse than Stamkos' run, and about the same as Pasta and Drai. It doesn't make him a scrub, in fact it makes him elite - but it doesn't mean he can touch the absolutely phenom that is Ovechkin.