Sebastian Aho in the same tier as Matthews, Eichel, Laine

[Dustin]

Pssh. Obviously Eichel has the most hockey IQ. I mean he's a player and a GM at the same time.

In all honesty while I tend to use tiers as well, what is the bottom and top end of the tier? It's possble to create a tier with just about any two players in it.

In terms of this question, I would say that Laine, Eichel and Matthews are a bit above Aho. That's not to say that Aho can't be better eventually I suppose but as it stands now I would choose any of those 3 ahead of him.

 

[jonlin]

Pssh. Obviously Eichel has the most hockey IQ. I mean he's a player and a GM at the same time.

In all honesty while I tend to use tiers as well, what is the bottom and top end of the tier? It's possble to create a tier with just about any two players in it.

In terms of this question, I would say that Laine, Eichel and Matthews are a bit above Aho. That's not to say that Aho can't be better eventually I suppose but as it stands now I would choose any of those 3 ahead of him.

As of now - I have Aho ahead of Laine and Ive always been a Laine fan.

1.Matthews

2. Aho / Eichel

3.Laine

 

[tarheelhockey]

Pssh. Obviously Eichel has the most hockey IQ. I mean he's a player and a GM at the same time.

Tom Dundon likes where this is headed.

 

[blueberrie]

McD
-
Schief
MacK
Matthews
Barkov
Eichel
-
Laine
Drai
Barzal
-
Marner
Pasta
Boeser
-
Monahan
Ratanan
Aho
Tkachuk
Nylander
Ehlers

Whipped this up quick. Probably missed someone and I'm sure people disagree.

But Aho is nowhere close for me.

 

[absolute garbage]

Aho is a stud and if he wasn't playing in the most irrelevant and boring market in the league, the hype train would be going off the rails. What a steal of a pick in the 2nd round.

 

[jonlin]

McD
-
Schief
MacK
Matthews
Barkov
Eichel
-
Laine
Drai
Barzal
-
Marner
Pasta
Boeser
-
Monahan
Ratanan
Aho
Tkachuk
Nylander
Ehlers

Whipped this up quick. Probably missed someone and I'm sure people disagree.

But Aho is nowhere close for me.

In what world is Marner and Boeser a tier better than Aho?

 

[StatisticsAddict99]

McDavid
———-
Kucherov, Mackinnon, Matthews, Scheifele, Eichel, Laine, Barzal
———-
Aho + others...

 

[tarheelhockey]

McD
-
Schief
MacK
Matthews
Barkov
Eichel
-
Laine
Drai
Barzal
-
Marner
Pasta
Boeser
-
Monahan
Ratanan
Aho
Tkachuk
Nylander
Ehlers

Whipped this up quick. Probably missed someone and I'm sure people disagree.

But Aho is nowhere close for me.

What specifically has Aho that far below Marner and especially Boeser?

 

[LongWayDown37]

24 goals as a rookie. Arguably the best hockey IQ in the league. Better defensively than any other teenaged player. Even Sidney Crosby gave him special attention.

Is he same tier with Matthews, Eichel etc? Sebastian Aho. The Professor.

How does the bolded part of the conversation even happen? How on earth do you come to that kind of a conclusion about anybody?

He's a good player, no need to be stupid.

 

[Kamiccolo]

What specifically has Aho that far below Marner and especially Boeser?

Marner is a very special player and has been underrated on this board (by Leaf and non Leaf fans alike) for a while now. He is going to be a better player than Matthews.

 

[blueberrie]

In what world is Marner and Boeser a tier better than Aho?

Marner has higher draft pedigree and outscored him over all stages of their NHL careers.
Boeser was on pace for 40 goals in his rookie year with little/none support.

Wouldn't be totally surprising to see Aho jump up over either into that next tier next year, but as of now I don't see a reason to put him above them.

Barring exceptional circumstances I doubt any of the 3 jump up into the under McD tier though.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Marner has higher draft pedigree and outscored him over all stages of their NHL careers.
Boeser was on pace for 40 goals in his rookie year with little/none support.

Wouldn't be totally surprising to see Aho jump up over either into that next tier next year, but as of now I don't see a reason to put him above them.

Barring exceptional circumstances I doubt any of the 3 jump up into the under McD tier though.

And Aho led his team in goals and points, while being an exceptional defensive winger and switching over to center for part of the season.

Don't want to put Aho over them... fine. But putting them a tier above is simply wrong, at least for now.

 

[DearDiary]

McD
-
Schief
MacK
Matthews
Barkov
Eichel
-
Laine
Drai
Barzal
-
Marner
Pasta
Boeser
-
Monahan
Ratanan
Aho
Tkachuk
Nylander
Ehlers

Whipped this up quick. Probably missed someone and I'm sure people disagree.

But Aho is nowhere close for me.

Guentzel? Best playoff performer of all players listed

 

[jonlin]

Marner has higher draft pedigree and outscored him over all stages of their NHL careers.
Boeser was on pace for 40 goals in his rookie year with little/none support.

Wouldn't be totally surprising to see Aho jump up over either into that next tier next year, but as of now I don't see a reason to put him above them.

Barring exceptional circumstances I doubt any of the 3 jump up into the under McD tier though.

Aho is on a lesser team and has a better +/- than Marner despite playing against the best opponents on Carolinas 1 line. Aho is also making a transit to 1C, whereas Marner is a RW. Their scoring last year was equal, while Aho scored a lot more goals. Aho is also better defensively. Aho has been a lot better in international tournaments. So, because Aho was drafted later he is suddenly worse?
"Outscored over all stages of NHl career" = Both have played 2 seasons and Aho has shown great progression over theese seasons. Playin all his life in North America and on small ice gave Marner an upper hand in the beginning of their NHL-career. Aho has cought up and flied by...

 

[blueberrie]

And Aho led his team in goals and points, while being an exceptional defensive winger and switching over to center for part of the season.

Don't want to put Aho over them... fine. But putting them a tier above is simply wrong, at least for now.

All three led their respective teams in points, while struggling with 4th line stints, no support or a new position. Is there any reason you would put Aho above any of them?

For me, Pasta's goal scoring and linemates, Marner's second half + playoffs and Boeser's rookie goal scoring abilities all make it extremely likely next year they will be more impactful than Aho.

Although just based off the past season I could easily slide Ratanan and Aho up to that tier. It's hard to draw the line. I tried to balance past output, recent season and future outlook.

Guentzel? Best playoff performer of all players listed

Yeah true, he does fit the age range. Doesn't get the hype in the "NHL's next superstars" discussions though.

I honestly have no idea where I would put him after his bad regular season but insane playoff stats.

 

[Narow]

Marner is a very special player and has been underrated on this board (by Leaf and non Leaf fans alike) for a while now. He is going to be a better player than Matthews.

Im definatly not saying there isent a chance but i think marner ending up better than matthews is pretty slim.

Matthews is just too much of a threat offensively in my opinion and stronger on the puck. Marner however is probably equally gamebreaking with his playmaking.

Marner would have to increase his goalscoring by quite a bit before id even consider him being better as awesome as his playmaking might be.


All that said Aho is the most balanced player of them all. Scoring goals on breakaways , wristshots (duh), slapshots, dekes, backhands and more while having shown some pretty good playmaking skills aswell on top of a pretty good motor.

Great player for sure i think he definatly will become an all time great out of finnish players and perhaps (long shot) nhl as a whole.

 

[tony d]

I like Aho, he's a solid player but I'm starting find him a bit over rated. Have to see how he does as the rest of his career unfolds.

 

[tarheelhockey]

All three led their respective teams in points, while struggling with 4th line stints, no support or a new position. Is there any reason you would put Aho above any of them?

Aho didn’t struggle at all this year that I can recall. He was the straw that stirred the drink on the Canes’ only consistently effective forward line, playing with two guys (Staal and Teravainen) who have previously been considered underwhelming. He was good at center as well, late in the year, and rolled that into a spectacular WC.

That being said, I’d be inclined to lump Marner, Pasta, Boeser, Aho, Rantanen, Monahan into one big tier before I’d try to put any one of them over the others. They’re all good young players and I don’t think any of them have put together the kind of season yet that would completely separate them from the pack.

 

[blueberrie]

Aho is on a lesser team and has a better +/- than Marner despite playing against the best opponents on Carolinas 1 line. Aho is also making a transit to 1C, whereas Marner is a RW. Their scoring last year was equal, while Aho scored a lot more goals. Aho is also better defensively. Aho has been a lot better in international tournaments. So, because Aho was drafted later he is suddenly worse?
"Outscored over all stages of NHl career" = Both have played 2 seasons and Aho has shown great progression over theese seasons. Playin all his life in North America and on small ice gave Marner an upper hand in the beginning of their NHL-career. Aho has cought up and flied by...

Marner was -1 and Aho was +4.. that's really not a convincing difference for me (if you buy +/- as a good metric to compare between teams). Marner played with Kadri against top competition for the second half too. I don't view Aho as a significantly superior defensive player, both are going to be top tier 2 way wingers IMO.

What did Aho do to fly by Marner? They've both been progressing. Over their last 30 games Marner was at 1.13 ppg and Aho at 0.87. Marner then put up 9 points in 7 games against the Bruins in the playoffs.

Aho is lights out at the WHC, just as Nylander was last year when he won MVP.

 

[Kamiccolo]

Im definatly not saying there isent a chance but i think marner ending up better than matthews is pretty slim.

Matthews is just too much of a threat offensively in my opinion and stronger on the puck. Marner however is probably equally gamebreaking with his playmaking.

Marner would have to increase his goalscoring by quite a bit before id even consider him being better as awesome as his playmaking might be.


All that said Aho is the most balanced player of them all. Scoring goals on breakaways , wristshots (duh), slapshots, dekes, backhands and more while having shown some pretty good playmaking skills aswell on top of a pretty good motor.

Great player for sure i think he definatly will become an all time great out of finnish players and perhaps (long shot) nhl as a whole.

Marner might be the best PP player in the league. Once he gets some more strength he will be the better player. Matthews will always score more goals, but goals are not everything. Both are good, but I think Marner will be seen as better.

 

[Narow]

Marner might be the best PP player in the league. Once he gets some more strength he will be the better player. Matthews will always score more goals, but goals are not everything. Both are good, but I think Marner will be seen as better.

I agree on the pp he is highly effective.

I believe matthews will be seen as better. But i do also believe the gap between them is at the smallest it has been since entering the league and might even get smaller in the future.

Obviously matthews dissapointing end to the season doesnt help here hehe.

 

[blueberrie]

Aho didn’t struggle at all this year that I can recall. He was the straw that stirred the drink on the Canes’ only consistently effective forward line, playing with two guys (Staal and Teravainen) who have previously been considered underwhelming. He was good at center as well, late in the year, and rolled that into a spectacular WC.

That being said, I’d be inclined to lump Marner, Pasta, Boeser, Aho, Rantanen, Monahan into one big tier before I’d try to put any one of them over the others. They’re all good young players and I don’t think any of them have put together the kind of season yet that would completely separate them from the pack.

I know Aho had a great year. I drafted him in fantasy and stuck through the slowish start so I was following along for most of the year. All of these players are line drivers.

I wouldn't really blink if someone lumped them into one tier. I separated them because IMO Pasta, Marner or Boeser are more likely to break out into consistent PPG players moving forward than the others. Although PPG seasons aren't out of reach for any of the players in the list (obviously cause Ratanan has already hit that).

 

[Ceremony]

I love Finns on this website.

 

[Thenameless]

24 goals as a rookie. Arguably the best hockey IQ in the league. Better defensively than any other teenaged player. Even Sidney Crosby gave him special attention.

Is he same tier with Matthews, Eichel etc? Sebastian Aho. The Professor.

I like that triumvirate of Puljujarvi, Aho, and Laine from a couple of years ago. While Aho looks to be progressing really well, I wouldn't quite put him at the same level as Matthews and Eichel.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I know Aho had a great year. I drafted him in fantasy and stuck through the slowish start so I was following along for most of the year. All of these players are line drivers.

I wouldn't really blink if someone lumped them into one tier. I separated them because IMO Pasta, Marner or Boeser are more likely to break out into consistent PPG players moving forward than the others. Although PPG seasons aren't out of reach for any of the players in the list (obviously cause Ratanan has already hit that).

I agree if we’re only talking about pure point scoring, but as far as 200-foot game is concerned I would be VERY surprised if Boeser turned out to be ahead of either Aho or Marner in the long run.