Toronto Maple Leafs: Where Does Auston Matthews Rank Among Young NHL Stars?

The Toronto Maple Leafs have some of the best young players in the NHL.

The youth movement in the NHL has been in full form for the past five to ten years, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have been one of the many organizations at the forefront of this change.

The Leafs average age is 26-years-old, being the fifth youngest team in the league behind teams like Colorado, who is the youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 25. (Stats Courtesy of TheAthletic.com)

As the league continues to get younger, more teams are relying on players to make a significant impact, even out of their draft year.

Auston Matthews is one of those players, and he has been able to handle the pressure of not only being a first overall pick, but being in the most impatient hockey market in the world is no easy task.

It just so happens that when I began creating this list, TSN released their ‘Core 4 Under 24’ list made by Senior Hockey Reporter Frank Seravalli about a day later. I decided to stick with the list of my own which I think will provide a different assessment of where each player under the age of 25 is ranked instead.

I think there were not a lot of contextual aspects that were factored in when TSN developed their rankings, and there were a lot of areas I disagreed with, and those reasons are addressed in these descriptions.

So, where does Auston Matthews rank among my 15 best NHL players under 25 list?

(All stats courtesy of HockeyDB.com, NaturalStatTrick.com, and Hockey-Reference.com)

#15 – Cale Makar

So, we might be starting off with some controversy right off the bat.

Yes, Makar has not played a full season in the NHL, but there are times when it looks like he has been around the league for a while.

Makar gained some hype after his brief appearance during the playoffs last season in which he recorded six points through ten games, after never playing a single NHL game before. I can even admit I was not convinced that Makar was the real deal, but he has seriously lived up to the hype.

Makar was recently named the NHL’s rookie of the month for November, and is currently running away with the Calder Trophy race. He has now moved on to bigger things, creating a name for himself in contention for the Norris Trophy. Makar has 26 points in 26 games and is third in scoring among NHL defenseman only behind Dougie Hamilton and John Carlson.

There are times when Makar completely takes over the game on the offensive end, and if he improves his defensive numbers there is no question he could be considered a perennial Norris trophy candidate in the coming years.

#14 – Matthew Tkachuk

Matthew Tkachuk has become the most important piece of the Calgary Flames offence this season.

The Flames currently sit 6th in the Pacific division, and with their usual scorers Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau struggling to excel thus far, Calgary has leaned on their young power forward to carry the scoring load, who currently leads the team with 24 points through 29 games.

Opportunity has been a huge factor in what has made Matthew Tkachuk successful in the NHL. Being able to play on the top power play line, and on a top-six role, is what has given Tkachuk the chance to excel offensively.

Being one of three players to score over 100 points on the stacked London Knights roster in the 2015-16 season, his physicality and ability to score in close quarters are qualities that have translated well from his strong OHL career.

Tkachuk’s offensive impact is extremely noteworthy this season, as he leads the Flames forwards in CF% at 54.4%, due to the fact his body positioning and net-front presence opens up room for his other line mates to control the play.

#13 – Mathew Barzal

With the departure of John Tavares, Mathew Barzal has taken advantage of the opportunity to carry the offensive load for the Islanders.

After winning the Calder Trophy in 2018, Barzal led the Islanders to an incredible playoff run last season despite taking a significant dive in point production. Barzal has returned to form in 2019 with 23 points in 25 games thus far, and has continued to lead this surprisingly successful Islanders team who currently sit second in the Metropolitan division.

Barzal’s best moments are at full speed. He can skate circles around defenders while cycling the puck around the offensive zone by himself, dragging in defenders and leaving teammates open in positions where they can easily score.

#12 – Mikko Rantanen

Mikko Rantanen is one of the many players on this list that was chosen in the 2015 Entry Draft, but I often forget he was apart of that class, even though he was picked tenth overall. This is probably because Rantanen was a bit of a late bloomer in the context of his elite contemporaries.

Rantanen only played nine NHL games in his rookie year, and only began to turn heads in the 2017-18 season when he scored 84 points in his third season in the league. Rantanen plays alongside one of the best players in the NHL in Nathan Mackinnon (Fun Fact: he’s hanging around somewhere on this list too) and Gabriel Landeskog, to make up one of the best lines in hockey.

Rantanen is also a huge part of the Colorado power play which has done so well in the past two seasons, and was tied for tenth in the league in power play points with 33. This translated into Colorado’s offseason success as well, where Rantanen led the team in points with 14 in 12 games, including a stretch in which Rantanen scored ten points in five consecutive playoff games.

Despite injury troubles, Rantanen has not missed a beat since rejoining the Avalanche roster this season. In ten games he has 16 points and has reunited with a red-hot Nathan MacKinnon coming out of the month of November. The Avalanche were my dark horse team coming into the season for cup contention, and Mikko Rantanen is at the forefront of their deep offensive team.

#11 – Sebastian Aho

Sebastian Aho is one of the biggest steals from his draft on this list. Aho was taken 35th overall by Carolina in 2015 and had a breakout season last year where he scored a team high 30 goals and also finished first in points for the Hurricanes with 83.

Aho was also instrumental in Carolina’s outstanding playoff run last season, leading his team with 12 points in their 15 playoff games. Aho is going to be a consistent factor in scoring for years to come for the Hurricanes, and he even broke the single season franchise record for points last year.

Aho scores timely goals, he led the team in game winning goals last year with seven, which was 11th in the entire league. He is also currently sporting a team-leading 12 goals, and is on pace for a career high 39 goal season, which would put him among some of the best goal scorers in the league.

#10 – Elias Pettersson

At just 20 years old, Elias Petterson is already the Vancouver Canucks most valuable player. He is one of the most dynamic players in the game, and he is one of few players that does not have a direct comparison to anyone in the hockey world in my opinion.

Pettersson is one of the most creative players in the league and his ceiling of potential is completely unknown with the skillset he possesses. He can turn a non-eventful play into a scoring chance in a split second, and has the complimentary skills to not only be a goalscoring threat with his illusive slap shot, as well as his patience with the puck in order to find his finishing line mates Brock Boeser and J.T Miller.

The 2019 Calder Trophy winner led the Canucks in goals, assists, and finished with 66 points in 71 games last season, breaking the franchise record for rookie scoring. Pettersson has only gotten better in his sophomore season, and is on pace for a breakout 90 points, which is entirely attainable for a player of his caliber.

#9 – Brayden Point

Brayden Point and Mitch Marner have a lot of similar skill sets, and have very similar advanced stats over their careers. Last season, Point scored 94 points and tied McDavid and MacKinnon for sixth in goals with 41, which is the major difference between Marner and Point; the goalscoring.

Point is currently third in points on the Lightning with 20 in 21 games, first in goals with 10, and is ranked second among forwards on the team in CF% only behind Nikita Kucherov. Point is also ranked second on his team in individual expected goals, and second in high danger scoring chances/60 minutes.

This helps when playing alongside 2019 Hart trophy winner Nikita Kucherov of course, but Point has become a goalscorer in his own right that gives him value above a lot of other assist men in the league, and is on pace for yet another 40-goal year.

#8 – Mitch Marner

Mitch Marner is one of the best puck distributors in the league.  Last season Marner finished third in the NHL in primary assists with 52, and fourth in assists overall with 68.

Mitch has never scored less than 60 points in a season, and has also never gotten less than 40 assists throughout his three years in the NHL.

Marner’s 94 point season last year playing on the wing of John Tavares allowed Tavares to score a career-high 47 goals which was good enough for third place behind only Draisaitl and Ovechkin.

Despite being under much scrutiny due to extensive contract negotiations in the summer, Marner was performing well this season before getting injured in early November.

With four goals and 14 assists for a point-per-game average through his 18 games played, Marner has been playing well when he does not even look like it.

Marner has also never experienced an injury of this extent in his career, and how he bounces back could definitely alter the way he ranks among these players.

#7 – Aleksander Barkov

Barkov has been called underrated so many times that he I think it is safe to say he is no longer underrated.

Coming off his first full 82 game season, Barkov finished tenth overall in points with a team-leading 35 goals and 96 points.

Barkov has already finished as one of the top candidates for the Selke Trophy multiple times in his young career and has been widely considered as one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL, despite having some of the weakest goaltending in the league for the past two seasons.

While Barkov’s style of play is not as exciting as his contemporaries, he is one of the most creative shootout men in the league. Barkov is ranked eighth in shootout percentage among players with at least 45 career attempts with 44.9% since the shootout was introduced in the 2005-2006 season. To give context, some of the active players above him include Jonathan Toews, Tyler Seguin and T.J Oshie. Not bad company there.

#6 – Jack Eichel

This is the year where Jack Eichel will be considered as one of the best offensive centers in the league.

The Sabres have cooled off after a hot start to the year, but Jack Eichel has remained consistent. Eichel is currently riding a ten-game point streak with 19 points in that stretch, including a four-goal performance against Ottawa in the earlier part of November, to give him a team-leading 38 points through 28 games.

One of Eichel’s most surprising qualities is his wrist shot, which is extremely deceptive and does not look like he will get nearly the amount of power he does. Eichel has also improved his puck protection and is utilizing his long reach to keep defenders at a safe distance away from the puck.

Eichel has consistently improved year after year, and while expectations have significantly lowered ever since being drafted in the shadow of Connor McDavid, he has arguably been able to do more with less than anyone else in the NHL.

#5 – David Pastrnak

Yes, he plays on the best line in the NHL, which includes the perennial hart trophy candidate Brad Marchand as well as the best defensive forward in Patrice Bergeron, and all of this has been taken into account, but Pastrnak is one special player.

The three stars have carried the Bruins offence for the past few years, and they finished with 106 goals altogether this past season, while the rest of the team scored 148.

The young Czech winger finished 16th in goals this past season with 38, while playing only 66 games due to injury, which was the least amount of games played for anyone in the top 20, so this was clearly the year Pastrnak was set to break out.

Pastrnak has unmatched confidence and swagger. On a team with so much talent through all four forward lines and on the defensive end, Pastrnak is third in the NHL in iCF, and is creative in finding ways to create scoring chances for himself in many situations. He is the best power play scorer in the league with 12 goals, but is also second in the NHL in even strength goals.

First in NHL goals with 25, Pastrnak has already put himself in elite company in his young career. Pastrnak became just the eighth player in the last 30 years to reach the 25-goal mark in 27 or fewer games, and could quite possibly join the 50 in 50 club this season; something only Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Maurice Richard, Mike Bossy, and Brett Hull have done.

#4 – Auston Matthews

Finally, the one you have been waiting for.

Sometimes I think people have kind of forgotten just how good Auston Matthews really is because of how the Leafs have performed overall this season. Matthews currently sits 13th overall in points with 16 goals and 15 assists through 29 games.

What puts Matthews over a lot of these other players on this list is what he has been able to do at even strength. Although Babcock previously experimented with Matthews playing alongside Marner, Matthews only plays with the best players when the Leafs are on the power play, and has still become widely regarded as one of the best players in the league.

96 of his 127 career goals have come at even strength, and 68% of his career total points have come at even strength as well. Not many players this high in the list can say the same.

Matthews is not playing to the caliber Leafs fans know he can play at, and the fact that he has still had one of the biggest impacts on the Leafs offence this season, is saying something. He currently leads the Leafs in scoring chances and is second in high-danger scoring chances, as well as being second on the team in rebounds created this season, and will no doubt be a contender for the goalscoring title.

What has prevented Matthews from going higher on this list is his ability to take over a game on a regular basis when his team needs it. Obviously that is easier said than done, but I would not have said it if Matthews was not capable of it.

#2 – Nathan Mackinnon

Nathan Mackinnon entered the conversation for best player in the league after a breakout 97 point year in the 2017-18 season which was good for fifth in the entire league, not to mention he only scored 53 points in the previous season.

Mackinnon also plays on one of the deadliest lines in the league alongside Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog, but Mackinnon has yet to play with his desired line this season, and has continued to dominate, especially as of late.

Mackinnon broke a franchise record for most points in the month of November with 25, doing so while playing just one game with Rantanen on his wing. MacKinnon is also riding a seven game point streak with 16 points during his current scoring tear, to add to his 42 points in 26 games this year.

He is one of the most explosive players in the league, and has some of the best acceleration in the league. From a standing position, MacKinnon is able to bounce his way around the ice and is one of the fastest players in the league, and is arguably faster with the puck on his stick.

#1 – Connor McDavid

This is probably somewhat anti-climactic, since McDavid is such an obvious number-one.  You could widen the age parameters to include everyone, and he’d still probably be the  top player.

Two Art Ross trophies, three All-Star selections, three consecutive seasons with 100+ points, do I need to go on?

McDavid has already established himself on the plane of Lemieux, Gretzky, and Crosby as one of the most talented players to ever play the game.  He’s the league’s fastest player, and by far the best offensive talent to come into the NHL since Crosby and Ovechkin debuted after the NHL’s 2005 lockout.

Connor McDavid is not only the best player under 25 years of age, he is the best player in the NHL.

Crosby’s international accolades and post-season success still hold weight in terms of overall hockey legacy, but it will be interesting to see what the conversation will be 10 years from now when discussing who has been the better player.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have some well represented young talent on this list in Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews, and I would not be surprised if someone like William Nylander would even be able to be considered among these great players at some point.