By Acknowledging your perspective, think about it this way. Matthews has had one entire year to develop FOR FREE and if you draft him now, you would still get a 3 year ELC out of him.

In other words, whoever drafts him will technically be getting a 4 year development ELC at the price of three, hence you're "TECHNICALLY" drafting a Draft +1 year Matthews that would be considered a rookie.
- EdmHockeyMan

But what if Laine outperforms him in almost every instance they play on the same level despite the benefit of 6 months (5 months 28 days technically) in age?

Not trying to rain on any Matthews parades; just offering food for thought on this Monday morning.

Bottom line is Matthews is the Center. The Leafs have a plan that looks like it's gonna pay off and Matthews will be a major part of any success they find.

By Acknowledging your perspective, think about it this way. Matthews has had one entire year to develop FOR FREE and if you draft him now, you would still get a 3 year ELC out of him.

In other words, whoever drafts him will technically be getting a 4 year development ELC at the price of three, hence you're "TECHNICALLY" drafting a Draft +1 year Matthews that would be considered a rookie.
- EdmHockeyMan

Also not considering the fact that a player who misses a draft year by 2 days isn't automatically a year older then the players in his draft class. Those guys didn't all "just get in by two days".

Matthews is born Sep 17 so I guess 15th was the cutoff. Well lots of players are born in sept, oct, nov, dec, jan, feb, mar, apr, may, june, jul, august, sep

But what if Laine outperforms him in almost every instance they play on the same level despite the benefit of 6 months (5 months 28 days technically) in age?

Not trying to rain on any Matthews parades; just offering food for thought on this Monday morning.

Bottom line is Matthews is the Center. The Leafs have a plan that looks like it's gonna pay off and Matthews will be a major part of any success they find.
- fry

I don't think you can say that Laine outperformed Matthews in this tourney. Matthews really had only a few teammates and the rest were plugs. He put up big time goals in big time games, including the only regulation goal and the SO winner in a 2-1 win. And he put up a nice PP goal vs Canada in the semi's to keep his team from falling out of the game completely.

Hell, it was a russian who led the whole thing in scoring with 18pts over Laine's 12pts and over Matthews 9pts(mostly goals). Connor McDavid also only scored 9 points so....ya know.

But what if Laine outperforms him in almost every instance they play on the same level despite the benefit of 6 months (5 months 28 days technically) in age?

Not trying to rain on any Matthews parades; just offering food for thought on this Monday morning.

Bottom line is Matthews is the Center. The Leafs have a plan that looks like it's gonna pay off and Matthews will be a major part of any success they find.
- fry

They won't find any...

Also not considering the fact that a player who misses a draft year by 2 days isn't automatically a year older then the players in his draft class. Those guys didn't all "just get in by two days".

Matthews is born Sep 17 so I guess 15th was the cutoff. Well lots of players are born in sept, oct, nov, dec, jan, feb, mar, apr, may, june, jul, august, sep
- Njuice

To make that point, Eichel was born in October and his about 10.5 months older than Matthews. So in Eichels draft year, he was older than everybody except the players born in late sept and Early Oct.

It's really kind of a dumb discussion to be having.

They won't find any...
- LeftCoaster

Hey now! We have already found some. The draft lottery was successful!

The fact that you think you know more than an NHL coach or GM does about roster changes is the reason why you make your money on clickbait instead of a real job in the NHL or as a journalist...or anything that's credible hockey-wise for that matter.

Auston Matthews 2014-2015
60GP 55G 62A 117P

Jack Eichel 2014-2015
53GP 38G 49A 87P

Your math is funny to me. I'm talking about their respective seasons before the draft eligible season. This is direct from the USA NTDP site.
- Njuice

Ya I was referencing hockey db' stats. They must be missing some?
http://www.hockeydb.com/i...s/pdisplay.php?pid=158169

Hey now! We have already found some. The draft lottery was successful!
- Njuice

Ok fair enough, but that's where it ends

The fact that you think you know more than an NHL coach or GM does about roster changes is the reason why you make your money on clickbait instead of a real job in the NHL or as a journalist...or anything that's credible hockey-wise for that matter.
- jimi james

I don't think you can say that Laine outperformed Matthews in this tourney. Matthews really had only a few teammates and the rest were plugs. He put up big time goals in big time games, including the only regulation goal and the SO winner in a 2-1 win. And he put up a nice PP goal vs Canada in the semi's to keep his team from falling out of the game completely.

Hell, it was a russian who led the whole thing in scoring with 18pts over Laine's 12pts and over Matthews 9pts(mostly goals). Connor McDavid also only scored 9 points so....ya know.
- Njuice

In the end I'd say that Laine had more points, but Matthews definitely outplayed him. The fact that he produced that much without any real support on the wings is pretty impressive. To get that far he had to carry his line. A team that frankly I was surprised to even see make the quarter finals with out utterly weak the overall roster was. Stepped up in key games against good teams like the Czechs (who did finish on top of their block) and Canada.

Not that Laine didn't have a successful tournament. The guy is the 2nd ranked prospect for a good reason, he has elite skills. Basically playing on Florida's first line for this tournament, he showed that he's going to make an impact in Winnipeg. They definitely have centers he can play with and will fit in nicely as an offensive weapon.

Tournament didn't change anything. Matthews had a great year and is a very complete prospect. There isn't much that he doesn't do well out there. I did appreciate following the tournament though in order to have more looks at him playing full games. Going to be a darn good Leaf.

Ya I was referencing hockey db' stats. They must be missing some?
http://www.hockeydb.com/i...s/pdisplay.php?pid=158169
- kessellover69

yeah i first went to hockey DB and the Games Played total looked fishy. the USNTDP site is hard to navigate through so that was a pain.

Makes me question hockey DB's stats for all the other lesser known leagues. Which sucks because I use them a lot.

James, love your stuff man, you're very entertaining, for all the wrong reasons! But you're a perfect example of why the Coyotes experiment with a 26 year old GM, with little experience, will be a massive fail.

yeah i first went to hockey DB and the Games Played total looked fishy. the USNTDP site is hard to navigate through so that was a pain.

Makes me question hockey DB's stats for all the other lesser known leagues. Which sucks because I use them a lot.
- Njuice

Ya hockey db is always my go to. But clearly if they can miss half a season on stats in a league where a lot of draft eligible players come from I should find somewhere else.

How good was Scheiffele in this tourney - and I dont get to see enough of him in the NHL - but he's great!

Well, it is a bad week for logic in professional hockey...

James, love your stuff man, you're very entertaining, for all the wrong reasons! But you're a perfect example of why the Coyotes experiment with a 26 year old GM, with little experience, will be a massive fail.
- LeftCoaster

It'll be interesting to see there roster turnover this year.

One thing that's is constantly overlooked is the fact that Matthews was 2 days away from being in last years draft. Would people be talking about how impressive he season was if he was in his draft +1 year?
- kessellover69

Your avatar is one of the most offensive things I've ever seen. Free speech is great too bad your a complete a hole for exercising your right to it.

James, love your stuff man, you're very entertaining, for all the wrong reasons! But you're a perfect example of why the Coyotes experiment with a 26 year old GM, with little experience, will be a massive fail.
- LeftCoaster

Entertaining for all the wrong reasons.


Like a train wreck.

How good was Scheiffele in this tourney - and I dont get to see enough of him in the NHL - but he's great!
- Njuice

Scheiffele was very good. It'll be very interesting to see what the jets do with both RFA's scheiffele and trouba

In the end I'd say that Laine had more points, but Matthews definitely outplayed him. The fact that he produced that much without any real support on the wings is pretty impressive. To get that far he had to carry his line. A team that frankly I was surprised to even see make the quarter finals with out utterly weak the overall roster was. Stepped up in key games against good teams like the Czechs (who did finish on top of their block) and Canada.

Not that Laine didn't have a successful tournament. The guy is the 2nd ranked prospect for a good reason, he has elite skills. Basically playing on Florida's first line for this tournament, he showed that he's going to make an impact in Winnipeg. They definitely have centers he can play with and will fit in nicely as an offensive weapon.

Tournament didn't change anything. Matthews had a great year and is a very complete prospect. There isn't much that he doesn't do well out there. I did appreciate following the tournament though in order to have more looks at him playing full games. Going to be a darn good Leaf.
- FlareKnight

Can't say I agree about Laine getting "definitely outplayed". He was voted tournament MVP and had almost twice as many goals as Matthews. Further to that, he led the team to a silver.

He was on line with Granlund and Jokinen. So yeah, one player from the Panthers. Hardly elite company.

Can't say I agree about Laine getting "definitely outplayed". He was voted tournament MVP and had almost twice as many goals as Matthews. Further to that, he led the team to a silver.

He was on line with Granlund and Jokinen. So yeah, one player from the Panthers. Hardly elite company.
- fry

laine 7g 5a
matthew 6g 3a

I don't know if you have problems multi tasking but I had no problems following both and enjoying both. The more hockey the better.

laine 7g 5a
matthew 6g 3a
- Njuice

Hah misread that stat line.

Still; tournament mvp, Granlund/Jokinen linemates.

James, have you been watching the Blues games in the playoffs?

Elliott was fantastic in rounds one and two. He was great in game 1 against the Sharks. But he labored in games 2 and 3. We didn't lose because of him, but anyone watching could see that he was tired (mentally and physically) and not the same guy who was amazing against Chicago and Dallas. He hit a wall. He needed a rest. Even if the Blues would have been up 2-1, I would have made the switch.

You could see it on his saves. Would save a shot and have no clue where the puck was. He wasn't himself.

These are things you can't see on a stat sheet, even fancy stats.

The fact that Allen is just as good, if not better in my opinion, made the decision easy. And the right one.

Changing goalies doesn't have to be a "benching". All year the Blues have relied on both goalies. The only way Elliott was playing the entire playoffs would be if he continued his hot streak and didn't wear down.