Mitch Marner is the Toronto Maple Leafs best player this year, but is he more valuable than Auston Matthews?
Auston Matthews has been the poster child for the Toronto Maple Leafs throughout his young career because he’s already won a number of awards (Calder Trophy, Hart Trophy and Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard Trophy twice) but Marner is slowly creeping to his standards.
There was a lot of debate over Marner for the past few years, which was justified. The fourth overall selection in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft makes $10.9M which is a monster contract for a right-winger.
However, every fan should be pumped to have him despite the contract, because he’s the best winger in hockey. He’s been named to the NHL First All-Star Team two years in a row and is on his way to doing it for the third consecutive season.
He is likely the best winger in the NHL, and his contract is returning value.
He has lived up to every expectation and has even shown up in the playoffs, despite his team failing to advance past the First Round since he’s been here.
Marner Is Very Close to Being Toronto Maple Leafs Best Player
In 39 career playoff games, Marner has 33 points. Funny enough, he has the exact same amount of points as Matthews, who also has 33 points in 39 games, however Matthews has 10 more goals (17 goals vs. 7 goals).
Matthews gets the love because he plays centre, can score goals more efficiently and has graced the cover of GQ and EA Sports video games, but Marner should be getting more love.
His current point streak is insane, as he has a point in almost every game thus far, and he’s putting himself in the Hart Trophy conversation with every game he plays. Matthews is still having a great season, but overall, Marner is playing at a higher level than his buddy right now.
Let’s compare their career stats:
- Auston Matthews
- 433 GP: 271 Goals, 214 Assists, 485 Points
- Mitch Marner
- 453 Games Played: 148 Goals, 338 Assists, 486 Points (stats: hockeydb.com)
Marner has less goals and points per game than Matthews, but overall their point totals are pretty close.
Matthews always had the advantage early in his career because of his size and his elite ability to score. Coming into the NHL, Marner had to take a year to mature in junior, while Matthews was scoring 40 goals as an 18-year-old.
Although both players are getting better with age, Marner’s improved at a much higher rate over the past two years than Matthews.
Last season, Marner scored 35 goals showing that he could be a goal-scorer for the first time in his career, compared to being the assist-man. And once again, Marner is on-pace to be a 30-goal scorer this season.
Not only is Marner showing that he’s an elite goal-scorer, but his ability to play the penalty-kill makes him so valuable. You don’t typically see a player who leads your team in points blocking shots and being world-class defensively, but he shows that ability every night, which is something Matthews doesn’t do.
Obviously Matthews defensively capabilities are also amazing as he’s always in the right spot and can stick lift any defender, but Marner playing the penalty kill really helps his ability when comparing the two.
At this point in their career, Matthews is still the better player, but with every game played, Marner is creeping towards that title.
Regardless of who you think No. 1 and No. 2 are, just be thankful they’re both on the Leafs. It’s pretty clear that even though both players are 25-years-old or younger than they’re already the best duo the Toronto Maple Leafs have ever seen and it’s so much fun to watch them every other night.