News Article: Matthews can be even better, says Babcock (NHL network thinks he's already top 4)

[thewave]

Hypothetical scenario :

what if Marner gets 100 points this season?

Matthews gonna get 120 Mitch north of 100 as well. /sarc

 

[Mugzy97]

I've always thought and was told that Marner could be the 2nd best player from his draft class. He hasn't done anything as yet to make me think differently.

Not impossible.

In no comparable season (same age) throughout the entirety of their notable hockey playing lives has Eichel been Matthews equal.

The truest statement

 

[ACC1224]

It's still a coin flip for me with the guy playing the harder position having a slight edge simply because he is excelling at the harder position.
Since we have Matthews I'm happy we have Marner bit if we didn't have Matthews would I prefer to have Eichel over Mitch? Really hard to answer that one.

Thankfully they do have Matthews and agree that if they didn't, the big center would definately hold a lot of value to the Leafs.

I don't think it's unreasonable(and I'm certainly not alone) to think that Marner can have more of an impact than Eichel over the course of their careers.

I could only imagine the reactions some of the stuff I was told before their draft would have caused.

 

[saltming]

Thankfully they do have Matthews and agree that if they didn't, the big center would definately hold a lot of value to the Leafs.

I don't think it's unreasonable(and I'm certainly not alone) to think that Marner can have more of an impact than Eichel over the course of their careers.

I could only imagine the reactions some of the stuff I was told before their draft would have caused.

Agreed that Marner has a ceiling that is superstar level. So happy he's on our team.

 

[Mess]

Hypothetical scenario :

what if Marner gets 100 points this season?

I believe you have a typo there as I'm sure you intended to type McDavid and your auto correct changed it to Marner in error.

 

[Morbo]

Eichel is at Matthews level ... take off your Leaf blinders

Maybe offensively.

Maybe.

 

[arrbez]

After this year Marner will fall between Matthews and Eichel.

No way Marner makes more than Eichel. Eichel is going to get all the moneys from Buffalo. GM Eichel is a big fan of his I'm sure.

 

[zeke]

Eichel is at Matthews level ... take off your Leaf blinders

eh, even offensively matthews has been comfortably ahead of eichel every step of the way. and then there's matthews' completeness on top of that.

 

[FlareKnight]

In the end we'll see where Matthews settles money wise. On the positive side we've got 2 full seasons before his big money kicks in. And on the bigger positive side, we've got Matthews . At this point just kind of hoping we can keep him around the 10 million mark.

 

[TheProspector]

The truest statement

That's actually a bizarrely false thing to say.

Eichel and Matthews were season-by-season nearly identical until their draft years. Like strangely similar.

They separated in their draft years.

 

[saltming]

That's actually a bizarrely false thing to say.

Eichel and Matthews were season-by-season nearly identical until their draft years. Like strangely similar.

They separated in their draft years.

They are very similar

"Both these players do everything very well," Gregory said. "So when you say one is better at this or that it certainly doesn't mean that the other is not capable of that kind of play. I think that in the case of Auston Matthews, he plays a more consistent, high-energy type of game. He considers engaging physically sooner than Eichel would. When you combine this with his excellent hockey sense and his puck skills, it's a deadly combination."


Danton Cole, who coached Matthews at the NTDP, said there are more similarities than differences.

"I think the power they both have; they are both very explosive," Cole said. "Auston maybe has a little more of a cerebral game and Jack will pound it through you a little bit. The thing that's very similar is that with a big time scorer or player, they are either a scorer or assist guy. I think both of them have the ability to be both of those things. Their size is very nice to have out on the ice."


"His inner drive is ridiculous," Granato said. "There's not a situation when he puts his skates on that he doesn't want to win, whether it's a faceoff or race to the corner. He's got an inner drive that's comparable to Zach Parise, Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby. He's got that inner burn that just drives him to win every battle."

Greg Rajanen of NHL Central Scouting said he believes that Eichel and Matthews are power forwards with their own unique styles of creating offensive opportunities.

"My opinion is that Eichel is a two-way power forward who can produce points, and Matthews is a two-way skilled forward who can produce points," Rajanen said. "Both are high-end players."

The bolded are the reasons why I prefer Matthews to Eichel. Agreed they are similar level players but I still give the edge to Matthews for the bolded and head to head Austin passed the eye test vs Eichel.

 

[Polaris1010]

They are very similar

The bolded are the reasons why I prefer Matthews to Eichel. Agreed they are similar level players but I still give the edge to Matthews for the bolded and head to head Austin passed the eye test vs Eichel.

I don't think they are similar at all.

Matthews is a pure sniper. A big man with very good hands, and an accurate and hard shot.

Put Matthews with better line mates and he really has a chance for a 50 goal season. Eichel will not be a guy who puts up that many goals.

 

[saltming]

I don't think they are similar at all.

Matthews is a pure sniper. A big man with very good hands, and an accurate and hard shot.

Put Matthews with better line mates and he really has a chance for a 50 goal season. Eichel will not be a guy who puts up that many goals.

Eichel is a sniper too. Imo they are similar because they are good skaters dominant centres with size do all the right things and have zeal for the game but as I bolded in my original post, I think Matthews is a better player for those reasons.

 

[Puckstuff]

37 goals, 78 points.

 

[Nooodles]

Eichel is a sniper too. Imo they are similar because they are good skaters dominant centres with size do all the right things and have zeal for the game but as I bolded in my original post, I think Matthews is a better player for those reasons.

Matthews is way better defensively. I mean it's not even close.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

I don't think they are similar at all.

Matthews is a pure sniper. A big man with very good hands, and an accurate and hard shot.

Put Matthews with better line mates and he really has a chance for a 50 goal season. Eichel will not be a guy who puts up that many goals.

I'd actually say that Eichel is the sniper compared to Matthews. Eichel has a great shot and although Matthews does too, he's more about scoring around the net. Matthews isn't just a shooter and when we see Marleau on his wing as opposed to Hyman, his assist totals will go way up.

 

[moon111]

Matthews is way better defensively. I mean it's not even close.

Matthews beat Tyler Bozak's `14-`15 team record for Takeaways by 8!

 

[zeke]

That's actually a bizarrely false thing to say.

Eichel and Matthews were season-by-season nearly identical until their draft years. Like strangely similar.

They separated in their draft years.

er, no. Matthews has been comfortably ahead of eichel at every step of the way:


Age 19

Auston: NHL .49gpg, .84ppg / WCP 1.00ppg
J.Eichel: NHL .30gpg, .69ppg

Age 18

Auston: SWZ .67gpg, 1.28ppg / WC: .90ppg / WJC: 1.57ppg
J.Eichel: NCAA .65gpg, 1.78ppg / WC: .70ppg / WJC: .80ppg

Age 17

Auston: DPU18 .92gpg, 1.93ppg / USHL: .83ppg, 2.00ppg / WJC: .60ppg / WJC18 2.14ppg
J.Eichel: DPU18 .72gpg, 1.64ppg / USHL: .83ppg, 1.88ppg / WJC: 1.00ppg / WJC18 1.43ppg

Age 16

Auston: DPU18 .85ppg / DPU17 1.38ppg / USHL 1.00ppg / WJC18 1.00ppg / WJC17 1.33ppg
J.Eichel: DPU18 .82ppg / DPU17 .93ppg / USHL: .77ppg / WJC18 .29ppg / WJC17 .60ppg

 

[Pi]

Maybe I am the only one but I want Matthews to get PAID. I'm hoping he pots 40-50 goals wins a trophy or two in the next two years and makes McDavid money. We finally have a superstar talent, hope he gets recognized as one.

 

[saltming]

Matthews is way better defensively. I mean it's not even close.

Yes add that to the list!

 

[Gabriel426]

Right now, they might be close but I think Matthews and Willie will be the one challenging McDavid in the next 10 years for being the best player in the League. Eichel is a great player too but he is just not there yet. Maybe it is b/c his team sucks but to me he is not someone who can put the team on his shoulder and take it to the next level.

 

[Gabriel426]

Matthews is way better defensively. I mean it's not even close.

I think of all the next Gen players, Matthews is already playing the best defense by a mile and he will only get better.

 

[Menzinger]

Matthews is way better defensively. I mean it's not even close.

A point that was made often by scouts pre the '16 draft. And it's held up at the NHL level.

Eichel is a fantastic talent though but I'm happy we got Matthews instead

 

[ChurchOfMatthews]

Hockey can't start soon enough! I miss the Leafs, trolling and infractions!

Go Leafs Go!

 

[ConnorTO]

matthews will break records