#2. Auston Matthews
Maybe it’s a bias, but I’d rather pick Matthews over Draisaitl if I were starting a team tomorrow. “Papi” is two years younger and in my opinion, a better all-around player. It’s also a statistical fact.
Matthews’ defensive-game is a sight to watch. His ability to stick lift his opponents is something I will never get sick of. Match that with an unbelievable release and you’ve got yourself one heck of a hockey player.
Matthews has never achieved 50 goals in a season before, but was on his way to doing that last year. He was on pace to finish with 55 goals, which would have broke the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise record and probably would’ve been good enough for a Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy. When you compare him to Draisaitl, the German native may have more points in the past two years, but in their first four years, Matthews was better.
Draisaitl’s first and only 50-goal season came in his fifth season, which Matthews will be entering this year. After learning the league, players stats seem to sky-rocket as they get into their fifth season in the league, so I would expect Matthews to have a monster year this year.
I’ll be putting a large sum on Matthews to win the “Rocket” Richard trophy this year, as well as the Hart Trophy. Just you wait and see.