[savemedrzaius]

And now for the article saying as of now...Matthews is the better player. I think Mirtle does a better job of proving his point than Lawless who kind of just stated his opinion.

Matthews has played the bulk of his season with Zach Hyman on his left wing (84 per cent of all even strength minutes) and William Nylander (64 per cent) or Connor Brown (25 per cent) on his right. They’re all rookies. Despite that, Matthews is the Leafs best possession forward (53.9 per cent) and tied for the team lead in goals (a 36-goal pace) and second in points (61-point pace).

That said, Laine is on pace for seven more goals – thanks to dominance on the power play – and three more points than Matthews. If he can do that over 82 games, it’s crazy.But he has typically played with the Jets best players: Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little. Possession-wise, there’s also little comparison to Matthews, as Laine sits at 45.7 per cent, one of the lower marks on his team.

Laine’s possession numbers are also weaker away from these top players. When he plays with Wheeler, for example, he is at 50 per cent versus 45 per cent when he isn’t. When he is on the ice with Little, he is at 61 per cent compared to 43 per cent when he isn’t.

https://theathletic.com/29536/2016/1...te-is-missing/