Will Auston Matthews be a better player than Mike Modano?

[snipes]

Matthews should overtake him one day. Man, I remember hating Modano when I was young in those Oilers v Stars series seemingly every year in the mid 90s to early 2000s. Looking back, he was a heck of a player.

 

[Dache]

I'd rather ignore them.

Good idea. But again you chose not to ignore them in this thread and asked a question. I just did my best to answer it

 

[The Abusement Park]

When Jonathan Toews was selected to the Top 100 list because he captained his team to 3 Cups.

I mean being a top 5 C during his peak also helped a bit there.

 

[weems]

 

[dubey]

G O A T status

 

[MadLuke]

Between 98-99 to 2002-2003

Modano was:
#3 in points (408) behind Jagr (500) obviously and Sakic (432), really hard to be above those 2 during that particular time frame, that a case no one above you is a question mark on your resume peak.
#8 in ppg

In the playoff during that time, 1.01 was #4 in ppg and he was #3 in points behind Forsberg/Sakic (against, hard to argue you should be above those 2 in the playoff success).

Selke vote in all those season, Hart vote in all of them except one, stanley cup, back to back ppg long cup finals run.


While playing for the Stars that were often among the best Defensively in the league and quite all around minded under Hitchcock/Tippet.
He had a giant level of team success, RS and playoff during is prime.

If we look at non rookie Matthews, 2017-2018 to now, he is #12 in ppg, #23 in points, one time receiving hart vote one time receiving selke vote in the playoff Matthews is #52 in ppg among player with 15 games or more.

If he is better than Modano ever was, that seem a strong claim on him playing on a way deeper era.

It is easy to underate Modano because of when he peaked, if those 4 season were all 100+ points in simply an higher scoring environnement he would be seen differently.

 

[AvroArrow]

He's already better than Modano. Longevity doesn't make player x > player y.

 

[um]

I'd put my money on yes but it depends how the rest of his career goes... He's been great so far but not so great that he's elevated himself past the legendary career of Modano.

The only impressive thing Matthews has done is establish himself as a top 10 player in the NHL, which Modano was himself for years.

 

[Namikaze Minato]

Usually as soon as Eichel is brought up.

Jesus

Yes, that’s right

Christ

Yea, criteria to judge a player changes as the my get older and closer to their peak, also judging a players performance changes as their salary changes. Matthews isn’t making the amount he made during his rookie season and expectations are rightfully higher.

There

But then what If Laine didn’t miss 8 games AND scored goals in all the games that he didn’t score in as well?

is

So missing 8 games = no guarantee, but actually not scoring in 13 = maybe he could have scored in those games that actually happened?

Multi-Quote

 

[Dache]

Jesus

Christ

There

is

Multi-Quote

Thanks

 

[BAM]

And Modano had already played in the Stanley Cup finals at 23.

So did Tyler Seguin, who gives AF

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Had Matthews not gone 13 games without scoring a goal maybe he would have scored 50 goals and possibly won the Rocket Richard Trophy, because his 40 goals was only 4 behind the 44 goals Crosby won it with in 2017.

If Matthews was a better player he wouldnt of gone 13 games without scoring a goal.

 

[Critical13]

Is there any player that has been compared to other players more than Matthews? His comparisons/60 is through the roof.

 

[Chuck Testa]

Who really cares lol. When you make a thread like this ("will player x be better than player y or is player x better than y?) we all know you want people to say player x is better.

Two different playing styles that played in different NHL's (scoring rate, goalie gear and capabilities etc).

Matthews is a great player. Modano had a great career and is one of the best Americans to ever play the game. Matthews will likely go down as one of the greatest American born players to ever play if he continues to play as well as he has played so far in his career.

But in all honest, it's like comparing apples to oranges imo. They're both really good at playing the game at the highest level.

Many Leafs fans (and I'm guessing you're a Leafs fan) will say Matthews is and will be better and Stars fans will say Modano is better than Matthews will be.

 

[McVespa99]

When did team accomplishments become a metric for how good an indivial player is?

It started whenever Leafs fans started talking about McDavid.............

 

[Bedards Dad]

It started whenever Leafs fans started talking about McDavid.............

Yes of course it started with Leaf fans...it's always leaf fans right?

 

[Unspecified]

Matthews i think will be a better player but the impact Modano had on US hockey is not something Matthews will ever be able to surpass. Modano's skating/speed was some of the most beautiful you will see and will not be matched by Matthews.

 

[Bust]

Is there any player that has been compared to other players more than Matthews? His comparisons/60 is through the roof.

Is there any player that has been compared to other players more than Matthews? His comparisons/60 is through the roof.

most people tend to start at the top when making comparisons to gauge their own availability to someone at the top of said field.

Matthews may lose every poll on here, but the fact that he’s constantly in these “vs” threads is very telling.

 

[Bust]

Matthews i think will be a better player but the impact Modano had on US hockey is not something Matthews will ever be able to surpass. Modano's skating/speed was some of the most beautiful you will see and will not be matched by Matthews.

I can agree to the impact Modano had will most likely never be matched. Hell, we may not even have Matthews if modano wasn’t shining the light on hockey in the Southern US.

 

[Perennial]

Not until he wins a cup.

How does being on a Cup winning team make an individual player better?

 

[TopChedder]

Matthews should overtake him one day. Man, I remember hating Modano when I was young in those Oilers v Stars series seemingly every year in the mid 90s to early 2000s. Looking back, he was a heck of a player.

Agreed. Modano was such a good player. I sometimes think people underrate how good he was.

 

[TopChedder]

I can agree to the impact Modano had will most likely never be matched. Hell, we may not even have Matthews if modano wasn’t shining the light on hockey in the Southern US.

Well put.

 

[BAM]

If Matthews was a better player he wouldnt of gone 13 games without scoring a goal.

Rookie Matthews won the Calder

Rookie LD shouldn't have even been in the NHL

 

[BlueBaron]

I want to start by saying it's not really right to exclude Eichel from this conversation since he is a similar talent to AM.

So lets look at MM and his 21 season career.

• Goals by a player born in the United States (561) Matthews 166 Eichel 139
• Points by an American-born player (1374) Matthews 297 Eichel 348
• Playoff points by an American-born player, career (146) Matthews 19 Eichel 0
• Games played by an American-born forward (1499) Matthews 292 Eichel 364

Now a quick glance tells me the games played, playoff points, Cup win and Silver medal are the toughest targets.

Matthews will smash that goal total, Eichel should pass it also.
I see both getting the point total
If Matthews stays a Leaf I like his shot at the playoff points, Eichel is behind the eight ball here but that can change fast.
I doubt either touches that games played number.
I am very confident both (because they are linked) will get at least a silver and I would wager a couple medals including potentially gold
Obviously the Cups are harder to predict. I want him to win Cups but I'm biased so we'll just say "who knows" for both.

Now hardware is an area both can gain on Modano, he has none. Matthews has a Calder and hopes to win a Richard or two. Both he and Eichel will hope for scoring titles, Hart and Con Smythe trophies but it's possible neither gains any. Matthews goal scoring is a big edge here because the others depend more on what is happening in the league. You pretty much need a major Oiler injury for a shot at a scoring title and then you have to hope MacKinnon is having a bad year. I don't like their chances.

Both should match and exceed him in All star appearences and that type of stuff.

I think when it's all said and done the three career will compare well with Modano owning longevity, Eichel owning assists and Matthews owning goals, for American born players. Both will need prolonged team success internationally and in the post season to truly eclipse Modano.

 

[joe dirte]

Matthews and Modano are like polar opposites as players, sort of hard to compare.

Is Modano still considered the best American player in history? or has Pat Kane taken that title now?