Lets talk about Auston Matthews.

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weems

Registered User
Jul 3, 2008
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Matthews with another pickpocket today that led to a goal.

A few more seasons of this and he'll be approaching Datsyuk territory of being able to strip players of the puck.

One of the best I've seen at this skill.
 

CantLoseWithMatthews

Registered User
Sep 28, 2015
49,550
59,135
Matthews with another pickpocket today that led to a goal.

A few more seasons of this and he'll be approaching Datsyuk territory of being able to strip players of the puck.

One of the best I've seen at this skill.
pretty sure he's second only to Bergeron in terms of defensive plays like stripping the puck and blocking shots/passing lanes and stuff. he's an extremely effective player without the puck
 
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authentic

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Jan 28, 2015
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pretty sure he's second only to Bergeron in terms of defensive plays like stripping the puck and blocking shots/passing lanes and stuff. he's an extremely effective player without the puck

I'm glad this isn't the mainboards, the backlash from stating this would be awful.
 

Morbo

The Annihilator
Jan 14, 2003
27,100
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Toronto
Can Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews get more assists than goals? - Sportsnet.ca
good article to break down Matthews' ability as a playmaker. Unsurprisingly, he's actually pretty good at it.

"Looking at the passing tendencies of only the 10 players to hit 31 5-vs-5 assists last season, we can see that overall, they passed the puck in the offensive zone more often than Matthews did, about 3.1 more passes per 20 minutes in total, but Matthews was actually slightly above average in the most important and dangerous pass type; passes to the slot."

"While Matthews passed the puck less often than his peer group, it should be noted that he preferred to make passes that were more difficult, focusing on penetrating the slot and keeping the puck low in the zone with north cycle passes. The top playmakers in the league almost universally like to defer to the point with south cycle passes quite often to make more space for themselves and spread out opposing coverage while Matthews seems to almost prefer to draw opponents towards him and overpower them with his unique combination of stickhandling and physicality."

the narrative that he's not an extremely good playmaker within spitting distance of elite is lazy and inaccurate

well so far his linemates have been players for whom 15-20ish goals has been the norm. how many times have we seen Hyman unable to handle a Matthews pass right in front of the net? a zillion. I think 34's powerplay production is due for a significant boost this season.
 
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