Maple Leafs: Connor McDavid vs. Auston Matthews Isn’t a Rivalry, Yet

The Toronto Maple Leafs get set to face the Edmonton Oilers for their first of nine meetings Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Mainstream media has tried to make Connor McDavid vs. Auston Matthews a rivalry, but it’s not there, yet.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nobody who supports Matthews more than I do. If you’ve read anything I’ve written, it’s all glowing remarks for Toronto’s superstar and it’s justified. In my opinion, Papi is the best pure-goal scorer in the NHL and is going to win a Hart Trophy sooner than later. However, he’s still not in the same class as McDavid and there’s nothing wrong with that.

McDavid, or McJesus, is the modern day Wayne Gretzky. Sidney Crosby had previously held that title, but it’s McDavid’s league now. There is nobody on this planet that can compare to his skill-level. I know his teammate Leon Draisaitl won the Hart Trophy last season, but that’s only because he plays on the Edmonton Oilers.

McDavid assisted on roughly 49 percent of Draisaitl’s goals last season. Draisaitl is a world-class talent in his own right, but if you substituted Mitch Marner or Auston Matthews beside McDavid every night, you’d probably get the same result, if not better.

McDavid vs. Matthews Rivalry Isn’t There Yet

Matthews is one year younger than McDavid and is off to a great start to his career. Matthews is a better goal-scorer than his counterpart, having only scored six less goals in 74 less games played. That’s a pretty impressive feat, but points-wise, it’s not even close.

McDavid has 474 points in 354 games, while Matthews has 289 points in 286 games. Also, McDavid has already won two Art Ross Trophies, two Ted Lindsay Awards and one Hart Trophy. Meanwhile, Matthews only has a Calder Trophy to his name.

Not many players win such big awards in their first five seasons in the NHL, which is why McDavid is in his own class. Not only has McDavid dominated the league, but he’s killed the Toronto Maple Leafs, which is something Matthews can’t say about Edmonton.

• Auston Matthews vs. Edmonton Oilers
  • 7 GP, 3 goals and 5 Points (via: hockeyreference.com)
• Connor McDavid vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
  • 9 GP, 5 Goals and 15 Points (via: hockeyreference.com)

In two more games played, McDavid has tripled Matthews in points. It’s not even close from a production standpoint. However, these two players do have one thing in common. They’ve yet to take their starving market to the next level and excel in the playoffs.

If you count the Qualifying Series as the post-season, Matthews has never missed playing meaningful hockey in his career. However, within that timeframe, he’s yet to help his team win a playoff round. McDavid on the other hand has only made the post-season twice in five seasons, underachieving every single season.

Edmonton hasn’t had the same talent that Toronto has produced over the last few years, but both markets are growing tired. They need to get back to the playoffs and win a playoff round, or big changes could be happening soon.

As much as it’s fun to talk about, these two players aren’t rivals, yet. They share similarities, but it’s nowhere close to a Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin narrative. Both players were selected first-overall in back-to-back seasons like Matthews and McDavid, but their hatred and conflict didn’t begin until they met each other in the playoffs multiple times.

Until Matthews and McDavid play each other in the post-season and battle it out in a long playoff series, this is just a friendly meeting between two great players. Unfortunately, this will probably be the only season we’ll get to see these two potentially face-off in the spring, unless they meet in a Stanley Cup Finals one day.

Regardless of whether or not this is a rivalry, I can’t wait to see both players face-off against each other on tonight and eight more times after that.