Well you see, when you have a whole other scoring line filled with superstars, you don't face the opponents shutdown line the entire game.

When teams face Buffalo their entire focus is on Eichel and he still had more ppg than matthews this year.

Also Matthews had zero 5 on 5 points without nylander, marner or tavares on the ice this year. ZERO.

Edit: I'm sorry, he had 1 5 on 5 point

Thats such a stupid argument, Matthews had no points when not playing with his linemates... How many minutes was that? Matthews faces shutdown lines and Matthews had a higher PPG than Eichel did last year since hes a year younger. Quit reaching and just admit Matthews is better, its not by a lot but hes definitely the better player

So you are telling me if Eichel switched with Matthews he wouldn't even improve one point on his totals and if matthews went to buffalo he wouldn't decrease even one point?

My point is their stats are so similar (points wise) it is ludicrous to suggest the quality of the team doesnt make a difference.

Last year, which you cite: matthews 88 point pace, eichel 87 point pace.

I'm saying compare Eichel's year 3 to Matthews' year 3 since both are clearly still improving every year. 1.06ppg for Eichel vs. 1.14ppg for Matthews, also Reinhardt and Olofsson are pretty solid linemates for Eichel this past season.

I think I'd officially give up on this team if they traded Matthews, especially for that

... shocking that he only scored points when his line mates were on! He played with Nylander, and then Marner. One of the two was always his winger. They should have just put him out 1 v 5! He's proved himself 5 on 5. Leads the league in 5 on 5 goals since he entered the league, scored 40 with rookie brown and rookie Hyman... I could do this all day

I don't think we are going to get past this argument.

Needless to say, Team USA is excited to have both.

Maybe because Eichel isn't the only good player he isn't the only guy that touches the puck and gets fewer points and scoring chances because other guys are good enough... not saying this is necessarily true, but nobody really knows the truth about the whole Eichel getting more points on a better team argument

He is obviously excellent, a top 5-7 center in the league.

I prefer Eichel and if Eichel and Matthews switched spots I think its obvious his points would go up and Matthews would go down. Not sure why that is unreasonable.

The point about the other big 4 players is that people on here tried to tell me matthews only played with johnsson and kapanen

Every team that plays buffalo knows that eichel's is the only line they have to stop and he still put up 1.16 ppg.

I agree, both are great players, Buffalo and Toronto are lucky to have em

he did for a long time though. Only this year and his second year did he have some good line mates. First year was rookie Hyman and rookie brown and sometimes rookie nylander. Second year was good, Nylander and Hyman. Last year he played with Johnsson, kapanen, and then brutal post-contract war Nylander, and I can't stress enough how bad he was. Then this year it was good. He has shown that he can produce with less than ideal line mates over the years. Also every team that plays TOR know Matthews is the most dangerous by far, but I do see what you're saying there to an extent. B

Well... You got Crosby, Malkin, Letang and then they pretty much had a good supporting cast around them. I mean Kessel is kind of a star

Matthews also had a higher PPG last year than MacKinnon at that age. But then again you wouldn't say Matthews is better. MacKinnon isn't even a career PPG yet, although he will be. Like MacKinnon, Eichel has taken time to reach his full form let's say. Next year will be his breakout year, not this year...but next

You can say the same for Matthews, always scoring goals but could get his total points even higher. As of right now Matthews is the better player

Thats what I was saying, its not just about 2Cs and a 1D

Yes, but I think the point LilJerry is trying to make is of your buffalo, when your facing Toronto what line does our top.line go against? I remember last year I was so excited to watch Eichel and Matthews play 1on1 because that's top line vs top line I thought... No, it was tavares Marner and their winger vs Eichel and I watched Matthews take on our pretty much useless second line at the time. I get it and if we take it away from the stats and the points they have had in the year and look at the players they are so ***** similar it's scary. Both Matthews and Eichels most dangerous skill in the ice is their wrist shot. Both players have a rediculiuos release, rediculiuos power, rediculiuos accuracy. Matthews shoots more than Eichel, and in that sense he has scored more and we will give him the edge in shooting. When it comes to skating it's Eichel who has the advantage, although not by alot he is the better zone entry/exit player and is faster when skating. Now the biggest difference in their game is Matthews (correct me if I'm wrong) comes in on the net with speed and takes his shot if possible or circles behind and can get a good pass off to a teammate. Eichel flies in but upon entering the zone he slows the game down for himself and uses his hands to kinda move in pushing the opponents back opening space for him and either shoots or gets a pass off to his teammates, whether that's 40 goal Skinner or Ollofson this year. Defensively they both are very solid also, Mark Scheifele said that Eichel is a pest to play against and looking at Matthews this year, well he is a pest as well. Honestly, they are so close that this argument will never be stopped without a couple more years being added of watching them, or maybe Eichel gets a good 2C and we can properly compare the 2 teams with players .... Because it's sad to admit that Toronto is crushing the sabres with their talent in every aspect of their team right now, Except for RD.

Oh ye, but as above when you have the core, the key players will want to come play...I mean a team with Eichel Matthews and Dahlin would be pretty dang attractive if I was a top 6 winger or a middle 6 winger...

But the Leafs don't attract too many FAs really, they already have Matthews and JT which is comparable enough to Eichel-Matthews.

Leafs don't have the cap space 2 attract the FA. They might attract them but can't sign em. I mean they attract overseas talent like crazy, Lehtonen is the newest addition but they get like 2-3 of these type of signings it seems every year

Yeah I think that Toronto is one of the few cities with a big enough Russian population for these guys to want to come, similar to NY. Leafs organization brings them over more than anything I think, its a first class org

If im living in Russia I'm wanting to move to NYC before Toronto, but when I look at the teams in recent years I go TO because Matthews, JT, Marner, Nylander, and Reilly is pretty attractive. Not to mention andersony

Yeah for sure, not sure if the Rangers are as good at recruiting as well. Leafs seem to be pretty smart behind the scenes, especially everything that happen with Mikheyev this year from the Campbell sponsorship to Dubas visiting him in hospital after the injury. Aren't giving any reasons not to come to Toronto at the very least

That is a far more doable trade than this. This is shooting yourself in the face in an attempt to make it more symmetrical. You just don't trade elite young talent ever. Unless you are getting one back in return. You are getting just some potentially very good secondary guys and space for a 30+ year old defender and losing the single greatest 5v5 goal scorer in hockey who is 22 years old. This is a terrible plan.

The Leafs lose the entire prime of arguably the best goal scorer in hockey. That is as bad a trade as one could make for just potential good players.