Matthews Or Draisaitl: Who is Ultimately Better?
One looming question throughout the National Hockey League is a long unsettled debate. Is Auston Matthews or Leon Draisaitl the superior player? Both are exceptional goal scorers and can feed a great pass through any obstacle, so they are often compared. Fans all have their opinions fueled by their bias,’ but when you look into the facts and statistics surrounding this topic, you may find a different answer. This article will take a careful study into this discussion and finally find out who is the preferable player by using a point system for different categories.
In the 2016 NHL entry draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs chose Auston Matthews first overall. Since then, he has put up 510 points in his 453 NHL games. On the other hand, Leon Draisaitl was selected third overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2014. To make a fair comparison, we will only look at Draisaitl’s stats from the 16-17 season. Draisaitl has scored 629 points since 2016 while he played 495 games. These numbers give Matthews an average of 1.13 points per game and Draisaitl an average of 1.27.
Draisaitl 1, Matthews 0
Auston played 73 games last season, scoring the most goals in the league (60) to secure the Rocket Richard, but Leon was just behind him with 55 goals to place second in the league. Both players scored the most single-season career goals during the 21-22 season. While chasing these career-high numbers, they also chased each other, going back and forth for #1 on the goals leaderboard.
Draisaitl 1, Matthews 1
Let's look at their GAR numbers to compare these two players further. GAR is a stat that stands for “goals above replacement” and gives players true value. Last year Matthews finished with a 31.8 GAR, while Draisaitl had only a 14.1 GAR. We can compare these numbers to other players' numbers to see where they sit through the league. Connor Mcdavid - undeniably the best player in the NHL- had a 27.9 GAR last season; Matthews had slightly better numbers last year, showing that he could compete with the best of the best.
Draisaitl 1, Matthews 2
Not only were these two players exceptional goal scorers, but they were also reliable when it came to setting up goals. The German Oiler scored 55 assists to give him 110 points to conclude the 21-22 season. Matthews ended the season with 46 assists to provide him with an overall 106 points, so even though Matthews scored more goals and won the Rocket Richard, Draisaitl ultimately ended with the most points between the two.
Draisaitl 2, Matthews 2
This season both Auston and Leon have played 46 games, with Matthews scoring 53 points and Draisaitl scoring a skillful 20 more for a total of 73 points. Auston Matthews is only on pace for 43 goals this year, a significant decrease from his 60 goals last year. Leon Draisaitl isn't on pace for many more because he has 45 assists and only 28 goals, but he is still expected to get 49 goals.
Draisaitl 3, Matthews 2
FO% is pretty even between Draisaitl and Matthews, with Leon having a 52.73% this season over 1013.6 TOI and Auston having a 52.54% over 930.4 TOI. However, when looking at physicality and penalty minutes, Matthews has 26 more hits and four less PIM than Draisaitl, meaning Auston could be the more all-around player.
Draisaitl 3, Matthews 2: (tie)
$11.6 mil AAV may seem reasonable for a franchise player such as Matthews, and that is exactly what Toronto paid for their all-star, but when looking at Leon's contract, Auston's may seem steep. Draisaitl is only being paid $8.5 million per year and is consistently scoring at least a point per game these past couple of seasons. Either Toronto overpaid for this great player, or Edmonton underpaid for their superstar, but either way, the Oilers now have more cap space to give Draisaitl a solid team behind him.
Draisaitl 4, Matthews 2
To sum this article up, both of these players have impressive stats and are guaranteed to be in the Hall Of Fame in the future. Although analyzing the stats presented in this article, Draisaitl may seem like the more suitable option as he currently has more points and makes less, but next season that could change. Either way, if I were the GM of an NHL team, I would be happy to have either of these players due to them having the capabilities to lead their team to a Stanley Cup win.