Nope. McDavid is a talent that transcends the "generational" label. Very few players in the history of the NHL are at his level. He's in the Gretzky, Lemieux, and Orr strata. You can literally count this type of player on one hand.

Matthews is in the tier below that. Generational.

Your "point" about 5v5 is irrelevant. It's a fact that can't be overlooked.

Matthews has better stats than Draisaitl did in his first 4 years. Matthews > Draisaitl. And Matthews isn't playing either with -or- behind a transcendent talent like McJesus.
- mjones242

It's funny that you had to create a new tier to do enough mental gymnastics to call Matthews a generational talent.

Let me know when Matthews has 50 goals and 100 points in the same season and an Art Ross.

JT is a Top 10 C in the NHL and you want him to move to the wing because Nylander's "natural position" is at C?

Okay.
- mjones242

better top line left wing than 2nd line centre? the time is now to mix it up as you can see something is broken with the team and they are not progressing and are weak on left wing in addition to defensively deficient in addition to lacking team grit in addition to lacking determination in addition to yadda yadda yadda...

Canadiens Montréal @CanadiensMTL
2m
The Canadiens have acquired the Washington Capitals' third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, in return for forward Ilya Kovalchuk.

Man theres a line of teams who wanted Bogosian and it's funny how fans dont like this guy but yet exec's, gms, scouts who work for winning teams, thought he was worth a gamble and that he could add to their team.

It would have been a good min signing

roeper called sandin an elite d prospect which he is not, then you went on to name a bunch of guys who are or were at one point elite nhl defensemen that were drafted in later rounds of drafts and some of them were even before the 'new nhl' happened. when they were drafted they were not considered elite d prospects other wise they would have gone in the top 15 or 20, more so the top 5 or 10 like guys like ekblad who were considered elite blue chip d prospects like jay bouwmeester was considered at the time, like victor hedman, seth jones, darnell nurse, all these guys were drafted high because they were considered elite blue chip prospects. sandin is not in that category and was even labeled a project prospect when he was drafted by the hockey talking heads who cover the drafts.
- ghetto puck

Ah so you had no point, have come full circle, and have ignored all the information provided to you. Got it.

He’s also a centre and just for that gets the nod over Draisaitl. If you check out the top players in the league and look at their stats across the board Matthews might be better than anybody. Just not as exciting as McDavid and MacKinnon.
- shack67

Agreed. Matthews lacks the McJesus and Mac jets; he doesn't put things into an extra gear like they do. He makes that up with generational shooting talent.

I suspect UG is hung up on the term "generational". Fair enough, I say. We can change the terminology to Tier 1 (McJesus and Crosby) and Tier 2 (Matthews, Kane, Eichel? etc.). UG is seeking to diminish Matthews as an upper-echelon player for some reason of which I have only one theory: he knows he can get people to argue about it if he says AM34 isn't Tier 2.

Canadiens Montréal @CanadiensMTL
2m
The Canadiens have acquired the Washington Capitals' third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, in return for forward Ilya Kovalchuk.
- Fruitcakenipple

Russian line incoming

Canadiens Montréal @CanadiensMTL
2m
The Canadiens have acquired the Washington Capitals' third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, in return for forward Ilya Kovalchuk.
- Fruitcakenipple

Russians end up in Washington just like French players end up in Montreal.

Man theres a line of teams who wanted Bogosian and it's funny how fans dont like this guy but yet exec's, gms, scouts who work for winning teams, thought he was worth a gamble and that he could add to their team.

It would have been a good min signing
- Aaron_85

Dont mind da b'ys here.. leafs where trying g to sign him..

better top line left wing than 2nd line centre? the time is now to mix it up as you can see something is broken with the team and they are not progressing and are weak on left wing in addition to defensively deficient in addition to lacking team grit in addition to lacking determination in addition to yadda yadda yadda...
- ghetto puck

Hard no.

Cam Barker at 3 says hello.

So does Yakupov at 1.... plenty of fails in top 5.
- Aaron_85

that was chicago's bad call, they thought barker was an elite talent and apparently were very wrong. yak isn't a defenseman.

He treasures his potential targets for argument. It makes him happy.
- Aetherial

Yes, the joy shines forth from within.

Canadiens Montréal @CanadiensMTL
2m
The Canadiens have acquired the Washington Capitals' third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, in return for forward Ilya Kovalchuk.
- Fruitcakenipple

"I wouldn't take anything less than a 1st or a top prospect for Kovalchuk."- McCagg

Man theres a line of teams who wanted Bogosian and it's funny how fans dont like this guy but yet exec's, gms, scouts who work for winning teams, thought he was worth a gamble and that he could add to their team.

It would have been a good min signing
- Aaron_85

He's a #6 RHD at best at this point. He can fit in Tampa Bay because he'll be properly sheltered. In Toronto, they'd probably try and play him 25 minutes a night.

roeper called sandin an elite d prospect which he is not, then you went on to name a bunch of guys who are or were at one point elite nhl defensemen that were drafted in later rounds of drafts and some of them were even before the 'new nhl' happened. when they were drafted they were not considered elite d prospects other wise they would have gone in the top 15 or 20, more so the top 5 or 10 like guys like ekblad who were considered elite blue chip d prospects like jay bouwmeester was considered at the time, like victor hedman, seth jones, darnell nurse, all these guys were drafted high because they were considered elite blue chip prospects. sandin is not in that category and was even labeled a project prospect when he was drafted by the hockey talking heads who cover the drafts.
- ghetto puck

But sandin is an elite prospect now. That happens sometimes too. Case in point pastrnak.

Canadiens Montréal @CanadiensMTL
2m
The Canadiens have acquired the Washington Capitals' third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, in return for forward Ilya Kovalchuk.
- Fruitcakenipple

as if they needed kovalchuk on top of ov.

sell toronto, you aren't doing poop this year.

It's funny that you had to create a new tier to do enough mental gymnastics to call Matthews a generational talent.

Let me know when Matthews has 50 goals and 100 points in the same season and an Art Ross.
- JohnFergusonJr

3 year age difference...matthews has time to do it. Hes already on a 56 goal 95 point pace.

His team was winning games before he arrived.
- RogerRoeper

Exactly. A winner joins a winner. Good combo, character matters

Man theres a line of teams who wanted Bogosian and it's funny how fans dont like this guy but yet exec's, gms, scouts who work for winning teams, thought he was worth a gamble and that he could add to their team.

It would have been a good min signing
- Aaron_85

he's american, he was probably favoring american teams anyways.

Ah so you had no point, have come full circle, and have ignored all the information provided to you. Got it.
- PlatosRepucklic

just stop, you were wrong the end.

But sandin is an elite prospect now. That happens sometimes too. Case in point pastrnak.
- mykokes

He's really struggling to grasp the fact that prospect status doesn't end immediately following the draft

Dillon punches Malkin so hard his helmet flies off. Malkin has a thick skull to absorb that shot and not go down.

Hard no.
- mjones242

keep watching them limp into the playoffs then, if they even make it. all you have to work with is what is in your organization right now. this is it.

Dave Hodge @davehodge20
51s
Having lived in both places, I know it must gall hockey fans in Vancouver to see the Canucks score 9 goals and listen to everyone talk about a game in Toronto.

But sandin is an elite prospect now. That happens sometimes too. Case in point pastrnak.
- mykokes