Edited Jul. 23, 2023 at 2:02 a.m.
Quoting: seanrushton
Not even a little bit... Matthews hasn't been able to elevate his team to postseason success while others have been. His team has not been able to get over the hump of the first round except for last year meanwhile players like Makar and MacKinnon have been. They are close but the fact that Makar and MacKinnion have post-season success gives them the edge. If I was really trolling I'd be arguing how Aho is better than Matthews
Arguing that MacKinnon and Makar are better than Matthews because of playoff success is pretty silly. There are better arguments that you can make for MacKinnon being better. I won't trouble myself with trying to compare Makar to Matthews or MacKinnon or even comment on who is ranked what.
A few reasons why your argument is a weak one:
1) You're saying MacKinnon and Makar are two top 5 players in the League (maybe top 3). So, Matthews is already at a disadvantage. When he plays with another top 5 talent, you can talk about playoff success as being something that seperates them.
2) Lets look at MacKinnon's playoff success in his first 7 seasons: 1st RD loss, missed playoffs 3- years in a row, 1st round loss, and then two 2nd round losses. Matthews was 5 1st round exists, play-in round loss (Leafs were a lock for the 1st round so basically 6 1st round exits) and a 2nd round loss. So, when MacKinnon made it to the playoffs he didn't have much more success than Matthews did in the playoffs in his 1st 7 years, just made the 2nd round once more.
Year 8 (MacKinnon's contract year and Makar’s 3rd year) they won the Cup and year 9 they lost in the 1st round. So, now Matthews is in the same position as MacKinnon was except he still has no Makar (Conn Smythe winner+top 5 player in your claim).
3) You claimed that MacKinnon and Makar are elevating their team, where were they last year when they lost to Seattle in the 1st round?
Don't get me wrong, they both, especially Makar were big reasons why they won but don't act like the Dcore as a group (particularly the top 4) along with big contributions from Rantanen and Landeskog weren't significant factors. Kadri and Nuke also had some big contributions.
4) At least one of Makar and MacKinnon, and maybe both if you include goalies is not a top 3 players. McDavid is one (or at least number 3 if you are counting playoff success that much against him), Kucherov is two based on production and playoff success that goes beyond the last 4-years. So, who is your number 3? Makar, Vasilevsky, MacKinnon, or Draisaitl? Maybe someone else like Hedman but doubt it?
Knies,
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