WordsOfWisdom Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Since signing his new contract... vs Montreal: 0 points. -2 Got a penalty for delay of game which led to a Montreal goal. Summary: Matthews did not earn his money tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Well, @WordsOfWisdom , I know I won't be saying anything you don't already know, but.. A) Playing in Toronto for a veteran player, even moreso for a young player, carries a crapload of pressure...regardless of contract. B) Auston Matthews may NEVER live up to 11.6M AAV.....at least, not in the eyes of critics. Not saying Matthews wasn't worth paying (because he IS), but whenever huge numbers like that are bandied about, the chances of a player actually "earning" every dollar of it are pretty slim. We've all seen it over and over in the league. Matthews can have a good run, then followed by a hiccup here and there, and the critics will cite his salary and what he is NOT doing, rather than what he IS. Just goes with the territory....especially in the fishbowl media market known as Toronto, Ontario. I am pretty sure though, Matthews knew darn well about all that. He will produce for the Leafs...question will be, will he produce enough for satisfy the naysayers? No pressure on young Mr. Matthews though, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 The question now is "is he earning his $925K" because he doesn't make $11.6m until next season... I'm still not convinced that any player is "worth" $10+M. We'll see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 12, 2019 Author Share Posted February 12, 2019 vs Rangers 0 points -1 Summary: No points since signing new contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 I love how Matthews scores but pretty well every other part of his game could use serious work but like Ovie his greatest and irreplaceable asset is his ability to score. I directly relate Matthews to Ovie. It's a team game and think hard, when was the last time you saw Kappy complete a pass in the offensive zone or Marleau so unless Matthews can somehow become a line himself he isn't going to be effective 5v5. I believe over the previous 2 years Matthews has the best offensive record 5v5 per sixty minutes but he had Nylander. Nylander gets a bad rap but he's a significant upgrade to Kappy and Marleau. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 13, 2019 Author Share Posted February 13, 2019 16 hours ago, hobie said: I love how Matthews scores but pretty well every other part of his game could use serious work but like Ovie his greatest and irreplaceable asset is his ability to score. I directly relate Matthews to Ovie. Great! Where is the 60 goal season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 Soon, let's hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 Matthews 1 goal 2 assists +/-0 on 18 min. 16 secs. TOI Read somewhere than Matthews gets the 82nd most TOI of all forwards in the NHL? I would think that if Matthews is going to live up to an Ovie comparison he needs icetime, Ovie is getting around 3 minutes of icetime more than Matthews this year and in previous years I don't doubt that Ovie was receiving even more icetime. On a Babs controlled team it will be a rare occurrence for Matthews to receive more than 19 mins. Last year Babs actually played Leo more than Matthews occasionally because Babs believes every player has a function that he wants them to fulfill. During the previous 2 years Matthews was on the 2nd PP unit with Nylander and Gardiner as the next best players. Why, because Babs wanted to balance out the 2 units but the 1st PP unit always got the most PP time. I think what Matthews has accomplished so far is amazing, can he be better, yes and he will be. Another player he reminds me of is Kessel, pure scorer when he first enter the NHL but gradually becoming both scorer and passer. Also Matthews is a center with center responsibilities, Ovie a winger with winger responsibilities, there's a huge gap there. I'm certain that if someone wanted to compare icetime, quality of linemates and stats Matthews' 34 goals last year in 62 games would work out to around 60 for a full year at 21 minutes per game, if not more and that's without a Backstrom feeding him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 14 hours ago, hobie said: Matthews 1 goal 2 assists +/-0 on 18 min. 16 secs. TOI Read somewhere than Matthews gets the 82nd most TOI of all forwards in the NHL? Matthews earned his money against the Avs. Nicely done! 14 hours ago, hobie said: Also Matthews is a center with center responsibilities, Ovie a winger with winger responsibilities, That's why I believe it's more appropriate to compare Matthews to Crosby than to Ovechkin. I'm more concerned in having a great all-around center who can score, set up goals, and play a responsible defensive game. Crosby does it all. Now, Matthews must do it all too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 I think Crosby's game evolved and we might think that Crosby is some sort of stellar 200 foot player but we only see him play in the playoffs when he probably plays his best all round game. His +/- stats don't paint him as being as stellar during the regular season as many think. Again he receives about 2.5 minutes more a game than Matthews and they are scoring at close to a similar pace. We have a similar situation to Pittsburgh where they had Malkin/Crosby and TO has Matthews/Tavares. Crosby's salary after his ELC was $8.7 mil. and this was when the Cap ceiling was $56.7 mil.about 15% of the Cap, Matthews salary next year is $11.6 mil and the Cap ceiling should be around $83 or more so Matthews will get around 14%. After the first year of Crosby's contract the Cap ceiling went up by $.1 mil. only, thru Matthews' contract the Cap is expected to grow significantly due to expansion and gambling. In the long range Matthews' contract should be a bargain and it would be fine now except Dubie signed Tavares and nobody expected Marner to be as good as he is. I think the only detraction from the Matthews situation is his health. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 I'm thinking Matthews' shoulder problems is now out of his mind. We're starting to see the Matthews we saw at the start of the season. He's controlling play, owning the puck more, even doing the Nylander dippsy doodle, in general is TO's best player altho Tavares is close. 2 goals 1 assist +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 16, 2019 Author Share Posted February 16, 2019 On 2/14/2019 at 1:33 PM, hobie said: I think Crosby's game evolved and we might think that Crosby is some sort of stellar 200 foot player but we only see him play in the playoffs when he probably plays his best all round game. His +/- stats don't paint him as being as stellar during the regular season as many think. Again he receives about 2.5 minutes more a game than Matthews and they are scoring at close to a similar pace. I think he tends to elevate his game when it matters most. The Penguins know they're going to make the playoffs every year. They're on cruise control during the season killing time until April rolls around. On 2/14/2019 at 1:33 PM, hobie said: After the first year of Crosby's contract the Cap ceiling went up by $.1 mil. only, thru Matthews' contract the Cap is expected to grow significantly due to expansion and gambling. In the long range Matthews' contract should be a bargain and it would be fine now except Dubie signed Tavares and nobody expected Marner to be as good as he is. Do you think the cap will ever go down? If so, what happens to a team that is now over the cap? On 2/14/2019 at 1:33 PM, hobie said: I think the only detraction from the Matthews situation is his health. For him to earn his money, he needs to be healthy like Mats Sundin was. Mr. Reliable. Play 82 games and give us steady production. At least a point per game (goal or assist) and be an even or plus player every game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 vs Coyotes 0 points -1 Matthews did not earn his money tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Neither did Tavares and he makes 11 mil., this year Matthews makes less than 1 mil. Mathews' current pace for an entire 82 game schedule, 99 points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 TSN had 2 polls on the go on Friday. One was are you satisfied/dissatisfied with Matthews this year, the last results I saw 58% were dissatisfied. The other was who has the most to prove in the upcoming playoffs, Babs, Matthews, others, Matthews had the most to prove by the results of this poll but it was very close between him and Babs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 8 hours ago, hobie said: TSN had 2 polls on the go on Friday. One was are you satisfied/dissatisfied with Matthews this year, the last results I saw 58% were dissatisfied. The other was who has the most to prove in the upcoming playoffs, Babs, Matthews, others, Matthews had the most to prove by the results of this poll but it was very close between him and Babs. I think if you look at the Leafs, this season has been all about Tavares, Marner, Rielly, and Andersen. Matthews is just sort of "there" sometimes and injured other times. He's like a traditional #2 center. He isn't the reason the Leafs are having a good season but he helps it along. Although his defensive play scares the hell out of me right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 Words, did you watch the game last night. It was the best game I've ever seen him play. It was against Buffalo but it was also awesome. He played pretty well against Nashville and and even better against Buffalo, is he becoming the player we hoped for when he was drafted, I'm pretty excited to watch him in the next game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 On 3/22/2019 at 2:23 AM, hobie said: Words, did you watch the game last night. It was the best game I've ever seen him play. It was against Buffalo but it was also awesome. He played pretty well against Nashville and and even better against Buffalo, is he becoming the player we hoped for when he was drafted, I'm pretty excited to watch him in the next game. I've noticed a significant improvement in Matthews lately. He seems deadly when he has the puck now. His awareness in the offensive zone (where to be) is fantastic and his shot is just perfect right now. It's great to see him becoming what we all hoped he would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 He had that fantastic game in Buffalo and vestiges of that game are still in evidence especially the d game but his domination game isn't there as much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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