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- Mar 10, 2011
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Yeah. I'd say that Matthews is clearly quite good for his age and handles his secondary match up role decently, but he's not the defensive phenom that Barkov is. It seems that he has every intention of becoming that though, which bodes well. When it comes to young players, give me the one who is hell-bent on improving.
Oh hells yeah. I'm absolutely not questioning his will and capabilities of becoming a great two-way center. Like I said earlier, it probably is just a matter of semantics. I'd be surprised if Matthews does not develop in to one of the defining two-way centers (and at the same time one of the premier goal-scorers in the league) through his era. I just don't think he's the kind of player I'd call "special" in defensive abilities. Not yet. I reserve those superlatives to guys like Barkov.