Scheifele has the luxury of playing with some very talented wingers in Ehlers and Wheeler/Laine but he still put up 82 points in 79 games. That's behind only Crosby, McDavid and Backstrom. He also did it while providing excellence defensive capabilities.
There doesn't need to be any sort of homerism to suggest the guy is a top tier center at this point.
And let's not overlook that he put up a 70 point pace, the same as Matthews, last year while playing with the likes of Perreault and Stafford for half the season as well. It's obvious that Resurrection's tantrum that started all this was an overreaction but the premise that Scheifele, today, is better than Matthews isn't all that crazy.
|