I was referring to each of tbose players first deal after ELC... they were all about 5-6 years long, walked them to UFA but wwre also all much more reasonable prices

That was a different time where most GM's had the me mentality that those players had to pay their dues and then guys got deals paying for what they used to be able to do. Like Perry, Getzlaf, Kopitar, Toews, etc. All of them should have been paid their big deals in their primes not after them. For the guys who came late to that situation. MacKinnon, Schiefele, Gaudreau etc they just won't get huge contracts when they are FA at 28/29 years old. Because we know they won't live up to them by the end.

Matthews is an excellent goal scorer, thats not up for debate. Eichel is the better playmaker though. We will likely see this year now that Eichel has an actual good player on his line.

Funny how the Leafs fan comes in and says "I'm the one being biased" though

Did you honestly just say Getzlaf Kopitar and Toews didnt live up to their contracts?

Matthews is a terrific playmaker as well, he just is the best goal scorer so he does that more. He turned Hyman into a potential 30 goal scorer for crying out loud. Matthews is just better than eichel. Better offensively and defensively.

Yes, are either close to being worth what they are being paid? Kopitar is 10 million dollar pylon. Getzlaf is still good but hes fallen off big time. He should have gotten his contract in his prime, not after it.

One is making 11.63 other is Making 10...sure not a big difference but doesn't Matthews end in like 3 years and Eichel has 6 left meaning when u resign Matthews will probably be 14 so acting like 1.63 million is a big deal is warented because it could easily be 3+ in the end of Eichels contract....therefore Eichels is way better, Matthews could also just walk.

Kopitar just got 7th in Selke voting and had a .886 ppg season on a rebuilding team. You are literally making **** up now to fit your narrative. Getzlaf is in the last year of his contract and only 2 years removed from a 90 point pace season (also on a rebuilding team). You may not have figured this out but something that's nice about paying them after they earned their contracts is when they do start to fade you are probably entering a rebuild and have a whole lot of cap open up as soon as your next wave of young stars come up.

Did I say Matthews is a bad playmaker? Hes a top 10 player in the league for crying out loud. Just because Eichel is a better playmaker does not make Matthews a bad one. Matthews had 47 goals, that doesnt mean Eichel is a bad goal scorer with 36 in 68 games. Both players paced 94 points this year and both players have different strengths and weaknesses.

What are Matthews weaknesses?

His mustache. Its godawfull

Nicely done sir.

'Much more reasonable' is a bit of a stretch. It's like a 3% difference in cap hit percentage between Matthews' deal and the Toews/Kane deals.

This is the right answer lol

IDK man, he's obviously not as good as McDavid so you tell me, what is McDavid better at than him. You are asking for random nitpicks

Fair enough but both Kane and Toews had hardware at that time

McDavid is faster and has the best edge work in the world. Matthews has a better shot and is superior defensively and at Faceoffs as well. McDavid is the best offensive player in the game and it can't be debated, he so much better than anyone else it does make up for his weaknesses. What are Matthews weaknesses? He sometimes would slow down when things for physical but he's past that now, this year I think no one will be able to debate he isn't right up there with MacKinnon and not nearly as far back as McDavid as many like to think. He is already clearly better than Eichel and this year no one will be able to say different without being massively biased. Health permitting of course.

Actually, they didn't.

Kane had the Calder, but so does Matthews' so that's kind of moot.

He has his flaws, Idk what they are but if they didn't exist he would be considered the best player in the NHL, which he is not. again it's nitpicking. I think you have pretty high expectations on him here and call me pessimistic if you want but I don't think he will be noticeably better than Eichel like you say

Kane and Toews also both had a cup ring...

He has been better, better results in all his same age years, better overall stats, and he is better defensively as well. It really isn't debatable

You are comparing different seasons though... I can counter argue by saying Matthews was more NHL ready in his first season because he played in an adult league the year before whereas Eichel played in juniors. Some players take more time to develop into stars (ie. MacKinnon). Last year Eichel and Matthews were virtually the same player at even strength.

So Matthews won't improve as he enters his prime? This is why I say you have a bias. All star players really break out around the age of 24. You can go back and look and it's almost all of them. But for some reason, all leaf young stars peaked in their first season. Half of the people on this site still say Nylander is just a 60 point winger. It's ridiculous.

What? who said he won't improve? I counter with so Eichel won't improve as he enters his prime?

No they didn't... They signed midseason - December of '09.