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So the debate begins: Matthews vs. Laine

[tweet]730784902841544704[/tweet]

Auston Matthews realized early on that the linemates he was given were not quite up to the task.

For mobile: http://www.tsn.ca/must-see/video/must-see-matthews-picks-up-pretty-assist~869001
 
Significantly Insignificant said:
Was he around for the 2008 (Stamkos vs Doughty) and 2009 (Tavares vs Hedman) drafts?  Does anyone have what his rankings were for those drafts?
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I can't find anything for those, but I know that while he had Hall ranked as the best prospect in 2010 he argued that the Oilers should have picked Seguin because his ceiling was higher. And from reading his stuff pretty closely the last few years I know that he's become a guy who very much prefers guys with the higher ceilings. It's why his rankings had Nylander (3rd) and Ehlers (5th) higher than anyone else's in 2014 for instance.

And if you read his article explaining his decision (http://insider.espn.go.com/nhl/insider/story/_/id/15511937/why-patrik-laine-top-prospect-2016-nhl-draft), you'll see that was one of the major factors for him. He says that he believes Matthews has the higher floor, but that Laine has the higher ceiling.
 
Patrick said:
Come on Carlton, get the quotes posted you high roller you.
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Really dude we freeloaders need someone to scale that paywall for us.

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a favor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my enabler?
 
Patrick said:
Come on Carlton, get the quotes posted you high roller you.
Click to expand...

For the past 10 minutes I've been trying to figure out how to take a scrolling screenshot of his entire article so that I can redact 95% of it and post it here as a joke. Got too hard though so I just gave up. But man, it would have been funny.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Patrick said:
Come on Carlton, get the quotes posted you high roller you.
Click to expand...

For the past 10 minutes I've been trying to figure out how to take a scrolling screenshot of his entire article so that I can redact 95% of it and post it here as a joke. Got too hard though so I just gave up. But man, it would have been funny.
Click to expand...

I think it's also against the subscriber rules too.
 
Feel free to remove this if you're going to get sued by ESPN or something (it's also posted on reddit.com/r/leafs):

1.
Patrik Laine, LW, Tampere (Liiga) DOB: 4/19/98 | Ht: 6-4 | Wt: 206 GP: 46 | G: 17 | A: 16
Laine is everything you want in a high-skill power forward. First, he's built like a truck at 6-foot-4, 206 pounds, with broad shoulders and great core strength. It's a joy to watch film of Laine shrugging off checks left and right, and easily winning loose puck battles. He's equally adept at being a playmaker as he is being a goal scorer. Laine's offensive IQ is high-end, bordering on elite. He's a very creative puck handler who anticipates pressure well, and knows how to create space for himself. He moves the puck quickly with few errors.

Off the puck, he finds the open seams well, and can launch a scoring chance from almost anywhere on the ice, having probably the best shot in this class. Laine's skating is his one notable flaw, although he's gotten a little quicker from last season. He's average in that area, and I don't think he's going to jet past NHL defensemen. Overall, he's a special forward, someone who could be an elite scoring power winger in the NHL for the next decade.

Ranking explanation: We're gonna need more than a paragraph on this one. Click here to read my case for Laine over Auston Matthews.

2.
Auston Matthews, C, Zug (NLA) DOB: 9/17/97 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 210 GP: 36 | G: 24 | A: 22
Teams dream about getting a legit No. 1 center like Matthews when picking at the top of the draft. A 6-foot-2, 210-pound pivot with a skill level that is off the charts, he's also got professional experience to boot, and he's been making Swiss cheese out of his opponents in the NLA. Matthews is a magician with the puck; not one of those pretend magicians you'll find in Las Vegas, but like the ones you read about in fiction novels. He is so coordinated and creative that it's nearly impossible to strip him of the puck. Combining that with an incredible touch that can have him effortlessly saucer pass across the rink onto the blade, or place it on a shot wherever he wants to, and he's a nightmare for teams to defend. He's a very good skater, and while he's not among the very top tier of the class in terms of speed, he can explode down the ice with anyone.

Matthews isn't perfect. His real weakness is when the offense isn't flowing through him. He's not a really physical player who will grind for pucks along the wall, nor is he some sort of defensive stalwart. Matthews still uses his big frame to win pucks and competes well on the ice in every zone, but the team drafting him must be realistic about what he's going to be in terms of the gritty areas of the game.

Ranking explanation: Jesse Puljujarvi is a fantastic prospect, one of the best under-18 players to ever don the Finland jersey. His 16- and 17-year-old performances at the IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC) are among the all-time greats. He's big, skilled, fast and advanced in his play. He's just not at the same level as Matthews and Laine. I can't think of one attribute he's substantially better at than Matthews, except for possibly his physical play; he's quicker than Laine and a little better defensively. They have him beat in every other area, either marginally or notably.
Click to expand...
 
herman said:
[tweet]730784902841544704[/tweet]

Auston Matthews realized early on that the linemates he was given were not quite up to the task.

For mobile: http://www.tsn.ca/must-see/video/must-see-matthews-picks-up-pretty-assist~869001
Click to expand...
Like
The real deal? Is it possible we could have a legit superstar drafted by our team, OUR TEAM? It's hard to believe.
 
Potvin29 said:
Feel free to remove this if you're going to get sued by ESPN or something (it's also posted on reddit.com/r/leafs):

1.
Patrik Laine, LW, Tampere (Liiga) DOB: 4/19/98 | Ht: 6-4 | Wt: 206 GP: 46 | G: 17 | A: 16
Laine is everything you want in a high-skill power forward. First, he's built like a truck at 6-foot-4, 206 pounds, with broad shoulders and great core strength. It's a joy to watch film of Laine shrugging off checks left and right, and easily winning loose puck battles. He's equally adept at being a playmaker as he is being a goal scorer. Laine's offensive IQ is high-end, bordering on elite. He's a very creative puck handler who anticipates pressure well, and knows how to create space for himself. He moves the puck quickly with few errors.
Off the puck, he finds the open seams well, and can launch a scoring chance from almost anywhere on the ice, having probably the best shot in this class. Laine's skating is his one notable flaw, although he's gotten a little quicker from last season. He's average in that area, and I don't think he's going to jet past NHL defensemen. Overall, he's a special forward, someone who could be an elite scoring power winger in the NHL for the next decade.

Ranking explanation: We're gonna need more than a paragraph on this one. Click here to read my case for Laine over Auston Matthews.

2.
Auston Matthews, C, Zug (NLA) DOB: 9/17/97 | Ht: 6-2 | Wt: 210 GP: 36 | G: 24 | A: 22
Teams dream about getting a legit No. 1 center like Matthews when picking at the top of the draft. A 6-foot-2, 210-pound pivot with a skill level that is off the charts, he's also got professional experience to boot, and he's been making Swiss cheese out of his opponents in the NLA. Matthews is a magician with the puck; not one of those pretend magicians you'll find in Las Vegas, but like the ones you read about in fiction novels. He is so coordinated and creative that it's nearly impossible to strip him of the puck. Combining that with an incredible touch that can have him effortlessly saucer pass across the rink onto the blade, or place it on a shot wherever he wants to, and he's a nightmare for teams to defend. He's a very good skater, and while he's not among the very top tier of the class in terms of speed, he can explode down the ice with anyone.
Matthews isn't perfect. His real weakness is when the offense isn't flowing through him. He's not a really physical player who will grind for pucks along the wall, nor is he some sort of defensive stalwart. Matthews still uses his big frame to win pucks and competes well on the ice in every zone, but the team drafting him must be realistic about what he's going to be in terms of the gritty areas of the game.

Ranking explanation: Jesse Puljujarvi is a fantastic prospect, one of the best under-18 players to ever don the Finland jersey. His 16- and 17-year-old performances at the IIHF World Junior Championship (WJC) are among the all-time greats. He's big, skilled, fast and advanced in his play. He's just not at the same level as Matthews and Laine. I can't think of one attribute he's substantially better at than Matthews, except for possibly his physical play; he's quicker than Laine and a little better defensively. They have him beat in every other area, either marginally or notably.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Laine can suck it.
 
Lets keep any quotes to just those 2 profiles. If you want the rest and his other article I'm sure you can find them elsewhere if you look hard enough.
 
thanks Potvin29/reddit graymarket of the Internet.
The other article can be found in the same reddit thread referenced in the comments.
 
I'm very confused.  I don't know if I should be ecstatic that the Leafs will end up with one of these two players, or concerned that they may end up with one of these two players. 
 
I like Pronman, but how often do guys with skating described as "average" and next to no defensive game go #1 overall?

Seems a little clickbaity to be honest.
 
Sorry, but there's no way you can rank somebody #1 in today's league who is just an average skater, as Pronman admits Laine is.
 
Patrick said:
I like Pronman, but how often do guys with skating described as "average" and next to no defensive game go #1 overall?

Seems a little clickbaity to be honest.
Click to expand...

I don't see where he said Laine has next to no defensive game, but as for the 1st thing John Tavares?
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Patrick said:
I like Pronman, but how often do guys with skating described as "average" and next to no defensive game go #1 overall?

Seems a little clickbaity to be honest.
Click to expand...

I don't see where he said Laine has next to no defensive game, but as for the 1st thing John Tavares?
Click to expand...

Yeah, the only thing odd about the defense comments is that in the ranking he comments on Matthews' defensive game as one of his weaknesses (while not mentioning Laine's at all) but then in the link where he goes into why he chose Laine over Matthews he calls Matthews the better defender.

I can see reasons for mentioning Matthews' defensive play (being a C) so it's not really a big deal to me, but stood out.  Still, like he said for him it's a coin flip.
 
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