1.5 seasons means nothing. You could find 1.5 seasons where Ovi was better than Crosby. You could probably find 1.5 seasons where Stamkos was as good as Crosby. You can't tell anything from 1.5 seasons is the reality of the matter. It's promising, sure but is he PPG player? No. McDavid is, way above PPG actually but reportedly, Matthews wants McDavid money. He can F-Off if that's true.
List is a joke, you can't take 1.5 freaking years of advanced stats and proclaim a player #8 in the world.
by that logic, McDavid shouldn't be considered high either.
Lists are stupid and meant solely for media attention/conversation. That's why Craig Button made sure he had Tavares that low, because he loves to rant on radio, which is great for just that - radio.
Let's not pretend there's much difference between #5 and #25. It's very subjective, it's fluid, and impossible across positions, context within the team, and arbitrary stats.
Based on ability, output, stats, eye-test - Auston Matthews is pretty damn special. He didn't have a great playoff against Boston last year - so what. It's a few games.
Yes it's "only" 1.5-2 seasons, but it's the FIRST TWO seasons, that makes a huge difference. Not solely cherry picking 1.5-2 seasons over a 10-15 year career.