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Auston Matthews to play in Switzerland next season

CarltonTheBear

CarltonTheBear

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The ZSC Lions announced on their twitter account today that they've signed the projected top pick in the 2016 draft Auston Matthews. It has been rumoured for awhile now that he would play his draft season somewhere in Europe but there was a lot of red tape/visa issues to work out before making it official.
 
I can't think of any other prospect who's made the jump from NA to Europe prior to their draft year. Definitely not recently. Or ever...?
 
Omallley said:
I can't think of any other prospect who's made the jump from NA to Europe prior to their draft year. Definitely not recently. Or ever...?
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It's definitely an odd situation. Probably won't impact his draft status at all, but still odd. I'm still not 100% clear on why he's doing it. I think it allows him to play in the AHL next season (since he'll be drafted out of Europe, not North America), but, if he's really as good as the reports say he is, he's not likely to be AHL bound anyway.
 
bustaheims said:
Omallley said:
I can't think of any other prospect who's made the jump from NA to Europe prior to their draft year. Definitely not recently. Or ever...?
Click to expand...

It's definitely an odd situation. Probably won't impact his draft status at all, but still odd. I'm still not 100% clear on why he's doing it. I think it allows him to play in the AHL next season (since he'll be drafted out of Europe, not North America), but, if he's really as good as the reports say he is, he's not likely to be AHL bound anyway.
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$ perhaps?
 
Frank E said:
$ perhaps?
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Yeah, he's definitely getting a pretty nice paycheque out of it. It's likely a higher level of competition too as Matthews would probably be close to a 2.0 PPG player in the WHL next season. Also, a lot of NHLers have raved about their experience playing in the Swiss league. It's obviously a pretty great place to live too. I really can't blame an 18-year old for wanting to spend a year over there.
 
Frank E said:
$ perhaps?
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Maybe, but I don't know how good the money is in the Swiss league. I'm sure it's better than the WHL, but I don't know if that's enough of a factor for a future NHLer to move across the pond for a year. I'm sure it's a nice bonus for him, though.
 
bustaheims said:
Maybe, but I don't know how good the money is in the Swiss league. I'm sure it's better than the WHL, but I don't know if that's enough of a factor for a future NHLer to move across the pond for a year. I'm sure it's a nice bonus for him, though.
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A few months ago Cox estimated that he'd probably make around $500k playing there. Obviously he's set to likely make a lot of money in his career, but that's still a ton better than the lunch money he'd get in the WHL.
 
Yeah, it's all about the money, improved competition is a plus too.

The risk for me is that some Swiss meathead decides to try and ruin his career. I suppose he'd face that risk even in NA, but those are pros over there with mouths to feed, all it takes is one resentful douche and he could be seriously injured.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
A few months ago Cox estimated that he'd probably make around $500k playing there. Obviously he's set to likely make a lot of money in his career, but that's still a ton better than the lunch money he'd get in the WHL.
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That's true. I didn't think he'd get anywhere close to that much. I was imagining more in the $75K-$100K range, which, with all the additional expenses and such, wouldn't have the same kind of appeal.
 
bustaheims said:
Omallley said:
I can't think of any other prospect who's made the jump from NA to Europe prior to their draft year. Definitely not recently. Or ever...?
Click to expand...

It's definitely an odd situation. Probably won't impact his draft status at all, but still odd. I'm still not 100% clear on why he's doing it. I think it allows him to play in the AHL next season (since he'll be drafted out of Europe, not North America), but, if he's really as good as the reports say he is, he's not likely to be AHL bound anyway.
Click to expand...

Drinking age #bust
 
John Shannon (who was the first today to report the signing would be completed) is saying Matthews' contract is for $400k.
 
Seems like a pretty natural reaction to any system that gets set up where players don't have to be paid. You're seeing this in the NBA with players like Brandon Jennings and Emmanuel Mudjay. Why work for free if you don't have to?
 
Crake said:
So just how good is this kid? He's obviously not McDavid, but would he have gone ahead of or after Eichel last year?
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There's no consensus on who would have gone ahead of who but most seem to feel that Matthews and Eichel are on the same or similar level.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Crake said:
So just how good is this kid? He's obviously not McDavid, but would he have gone ahead of or after Eichel last year?
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There's no consensus on who would have gone ahead of who but most seem to feel that Matthews and Eichel are on the same or similar level.
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I think he broke the NTDP scoring record set by Pat Kane too, in the year before his draft year, which seems impressive.
 
Patrick said:
CarltonTheBear said:
Crake said:
So just how good is this kid? He's obviously not McDavid, but would he have gone ahead of or after Eichel last year?
Click to expand...

There's no consensus on who would have gone ahead of who but most seem to feel that Matthews and Eichel are on the same or similar level.
Click to expand...

I think he broke the NTDP scoring record set by Pat Kane too, in the year before his draft year, which seems impressive.
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To add some perspective to that though:

Patrick Kane - 2 years pre-Draft = 37 points in 40 games
Patrick Kane - 1 year pre-Draft = 34 points in 15 games

Auston Matthews - 2 years pre-Draft = (12 points in 10 games U17, 8 points in 10 games U18)
Auston Matthews - 1 year pre-Draft = 48 points in 24 games

Kane was scoring at a better pace even though Matthews put up more points. 
 
L K said:
To add some perspective to that though:

Patrick Kane - 2 years pre-Draft = 37 points in 40 games
Patrick Kane - 1 year pre-Draft = 34 points in 15 games

Auston Matthews - 2 years pre-Draft = (12 points in 10 games U17, 8 points in 10 games U18)
Auston Matthews - 1 year pre-Draft = 48 points in 24 games

Kane was scoring at a better pace even though Matthews put up more points. 
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I never quite wrapped my head around how the US's U18 team operates, but you're only looking at a portion of the games those guys played for the NTDP that season. Matthews broke the record by scoring 116 points in 60 games, Kane's record was 102 points in 58 games.
 
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