Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews Slighted in ESPN Player Rankings
The noted website ranked the top 25 NHL players of the 21st century and the Leafs superstar center was snubbed in comparison to some of his contemporaries.
Noted website ESPN recently released its ranking of the top 25 NHL players of the 21st century and it wasn't kind to the Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews.
It's not an easy task comparing the best players hockey has to offer, many who are or will be Hall-of-Famers, but there are some interesting takeaways nonetheless. The main one, however, is that they are wrong about the Toronto Maple Leafs best player.
The ranking becomes more difficult when trying to compare careers that are almost complete to ones that are only half finished.
The active players on this list, however, have played enough years to make judgments about the order.
Looking specifically at the current active NHL players, the accomplishments of the Leafs Matthews were disrespected.
Notable Active NHL Player Rankings
Topping ESPN's list is Sidney Crosby followed by Alex Ovechkin, Connor McDavid, Patrick Kane, and Niklas Lidstrom rounding out the top five. Crosby and McDavid are generational players, multiple award winners who are considered among the greatest to ever play.
Ovechkin is on his way to surpassing Wayne Gretzky as the game's greatest goal scorer. Kane is a three-time Stanley Cup champion and a Conn Smythe, Art Ross, and Hart Trophy winner. Lidstrom is the best defenseman of this century, a four-time Cup champion, and a Conn Smythe winner who has won seven Norris trophies.
The rankings lose credibility when categorizing other active players. Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche ranks sixth, Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins is ninth, Steven Stamkos of the Nashville Predators is twelfth, Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers is thirteenth, Matthews is fifteenth, while Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning is seventeenth.
Other active notable players and their rankings were Erik Karlsson of the Penguins (16), Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Lightning (19), Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings (21), Victor Hedman of the Lightning (24), and Jonathan Quick (25).
Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews Slighted in ESPN Player Rankings
Ranking Draisaitl ahead of Matthews is an egregious error. While their traditional stats are somewhat similar (points per game and goals scored), a deeper dive shows the Leafs center is the better player.
They have each won a Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player. Draisaitl has won the Art Ross Trophy but Matthews is a three-time winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league's top goal scorer.
Matthews has scored the most goals in the NHL since he entered the league. His goal-scoring pace is on par with Ovechkin's , who is on his way to a new NHL career standard. The Maple Leafs center also scores more even-strength goals than Draisaitl.
Both Matthews and Draisaitl are supported by star players within their team's lineup, but Draisaitl has the benefit of playing with McDavid, already considered a top-five player in the history of the NHL.
The biggest discrepancy between the two players is defense. Matthews is by far the better defender and he doesn't take occasional shifts on the wing like Draisaitl.
Matthews is consistently among the league leaders in takeaways, while rarely giving the puck away. In only two of his eight seasons did his giveaways outnumber his takeaways. Last season he was recognized with a Selke Trophy nomination as the league's best defensive forward.
The head-to-head comparison shows that there is no way Draisaitl should be ranked ahead of Matthews.
Matthews Compares Favorably to MacKinnon
Matthews numbers compare favorably to MacKinnon but he is ranked much lower.
They are each Hart Trophy winners.
Both have won the Calder Trophy for top rookie and the Ted Lindsay award as the league's best player, voted on by their peers.
MacKinnon has won a Lady Byng, but Matthews has multiple Rocket Richard trophies.
Their points per game are similar. Matthews is the better goal scorer and MacKinnon is the better playmaker.
Matthews is much better defensively, and has been more consistant throughout his career. MacKinnon's last several years have been great, but his early career was not that impressive.
The biggest difference that seems to have heavily influenced their comparison is that MacKinnon has a Stanley Cup championship while Matthews has yet to go on an extended playoff run. It also appears to have weighed heavily in ranking Draisaitl ahead of Matthews. Draisaitl hasn't won a title but has made the Stanley Cup Final and the Western Conference Final twice.
Matthews wasn't the only active NHL player who was underrated in the ESPN rankings.
Other Underappreciated Players
Kucherov and Stamkos are two other players who were undervalued in the rankings.
At seventeenth, Kucherov is too low and he should be ahead of players such as Karlsson and Draisaitl.
He is a two-time Cup winner, two-time scoring champ, and a Hart Trophy winner. That resume trumps both Karlsson and Draisaitl.
Stamkos (12th) was Kucherov's teammate for those championships, is a two-time Rocket Richard winner, and is third among active players in goals scored. His credentials are more impressive than players like Henrik Lundqvist (8th) and MacKinnon (6th).
Comparing incomplete careers to those that are finished or players from different eras is an onerous task. ESPN's top five is hard to argue with, but there are many inadequacies within the rest of the top twenty-five.
Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the league's best goal-scorer since he entered the league, being ranked so low was the most glaring error.
Among active players, Matthews is currently the no-doubt second-best players. Sure, players like Kucherov and Kane are being evaluated on much longer careers, but even they were never as good as Matthews is right now, at the peak of his powers.
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One thing Toronto Maple Leafs fans can take solace in, is that these rankings are clearly influened by Championships, and the Leafs are not going to fail in the playoffs for Matthews entire career - they are going to eventually get it right, and then he will be properly rated.