Lawless: Laine Will End Up a Superior Player to Matthews

[White Out 403]

I don't understand why tuna is being so defensive either. It's early. This race will likely be decided over the span of a career. Even then who knows. Matthews is unlikely to be the next Crosby and Laine unlikely to be the next Ovechkin.

But for the time being Laine has been better, albeit a small sample size.

[Party Elephant]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

I don't understand why tuna is being so defensive either.

That's just his thing he does when the leafs are being discussed.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by blender

He might not be.

You've got Brady, Montana, Young, Manning ahead of him for sure and that's just modern era. He's #5 at best IMO. Not winning a superbowl definitely hurts his cause.

I don't know about Young. You are still right though, Marino might not be a top 5 QB anymore. NFL.com published their all time top ten QBs in October. Marino was at #6. Steve Young didn't make the top 10.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...in-nfl-history

[gt4flames]

matthews isn't even the most dominant player on his team right now. Marner is blatantly outplaying him; points or media spunk aside.

Laine was the world championship MVP. AS an 18 YEAR OLD.

Notable players in this tourney:
connor mcdavid ( current points leader)
mark scheitle( his line mate)
taylor hall ( you know who he is)
corey perry (hart trophy, rocket richard winner)
artemi planarian (calder trophy winner with 77 points)
david pastrnak (currently ties with crosby at 18 goals, 1 more then Laine)
sasha barkov (finish teammate, 1C for florida)
Pavel datsyuk
alex ovy.


he won MVP over all of those STUD players.

matthews, played well, but...

[flamesforcup]

Leafs fans are honestly more annoying than Oilers fans.

[flamesforcup]

Originally Posted by BigTuna

and yet people are using the same small sample size to declare Laine better than Matthews.

Matthews has been invisible this year. His 4 goal games were some of the easiest goals u can get (literally empty net tap ins). I dont know how u can say he has been better. Hes been playing like a bigger RNH

[savemedrzaius]

Originally Posted by flamesforcup

Matthews has been invisible this year. His 4 goal games were some of the easiest goals u can get (literally empty net tap ins). I dont know how u can say he has been better. Hes been playing like a bigger RNH

2nd in rookie scoring...6 points behind Laine...Laine has played 5 more games...dude is invisible. I think we can all agree Matthews is the biggest bust in NHL history.

[edslunch]

Matthews may well be a better overall player but Laine is a generational goal scorer. He will prove to be the best since Ovechkin.

[Pointman]

It is like Ovechkin and Malkin draft again, but this time a well-rounded franchise center (Malkin, Matthews) was taken over a generational scoring winger (Ovechkin, Laine). Kopitar and Iginla are a bit worse comparisons since they were not clear-cut top 2 in the same draft class.

[robaur]

There's something weird about the NHL this year.

Goals Ranking

1. Crosby - 18
2. Pastrnak - 18
3. Laine - 17
4. Simmonds - 15
5. Hossa - 15
6. Scheifele - 15

Apart from Crosby and maybe Scheifele, I'm astounded by the rankings.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by robaur

There's something weird about the NHL this year.

Goals Ranking

1. Crosby - 18
2. Pastrnak - 18
3. Laine - 17
4. Simmonds - 15
5. Hossa - 15
6. Scheifele - 15

Apart from Crosby and maybe Scheifele, I'm astounded by the rankings.

It's early

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by savemedrzaius

I don't know where you are getting this from? He has a great shot for sure, but I have no idea if it is Top 5. I guess if he keeps this shooting % for the entire season he is Top 5

We've seen him? Before the draft I said this kid has one of the best shots I've ever seen in my 20 years of watching prospects. I said he may be the next great goal scorer. His shot pre-draft was being compared to Stamkos and Ovechkin.

I think Matthews plays the more valuable position and I'd probably take him given the choice. But I still think Laine will be the next great goal scorer in the NHL. He has 50 goal potential.

[FBI]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

I'll never get this type of perspective...the same thing occurs with Subban and Ovechkin. As soon as anyone has any sort of individual personality, we slap it down.

Its not as if I prefer a group of individuals playing like you often see in the NBA, but a bit of personality is a positive thing IMO.

Such a conservative sport sometimes!

I love personality (ie I love subban) but I don't like showboating.
It'd be cool if he did it every once in awhile, but when he does it every time, it just seems arrogant.

[bcneil]

Without his 4 goal game, there isn't a question for this year anyways.

[BigTuna]

Originally Posted by bcneil

Without his 4 goal game, there isn't a question for this year anyways.

What point is this? Laine has 2 hat tricks.

[BigTuna]

Originally Posted by flamesforcup

Matthews has been invisible this year. His 4 goal games were some of the easiest goals u can get (literally empty net tap ins). I dont know how u can say he has been better. Hes been playing like a bigger RNH

You're delusional. He's only a few points behind Laine with 5 games in hand. And his advanced stats destroy Laine's.
Matthews is on pace for 38 goals FYI.
And BTW, in his 4 goal game, he scored a brilliant goal (2nd of the night) where it was a highlight real and far from easy. He undressed 3 Sens players.
And with the same point, would Laine's stats look as good without his 2 hat tricks (or even one of them)?

[BigTuna]

Originally Posted by gt4flames

matthews isn't even the most dominant player on his team right now. Marner is blatantly outplaying him; points or media spunk aside.

Laine was the world championship MVP. AS an 18 YEAR OLD.

Notable players in this tourney:
connor mcdavid ( current points leader)
mark scheitle( his line mate)
taylor hall ( you know who he is)
corey perry (hart trophy, rocket richard winner)
artemi planarian (calder trophy winner with 77 points)
david pastrnak (currently ties with crosby at 18 goals, 1 more then Laine)
sasha barkov (finish teammate, 1C for florida)
Pavel datsyuk
alex ovy.


he won MVP over all of those STUD players.

matthews, played well, but...

But that's not a negative. What team has rookies like Matthews/Marner/Nylander? None. There hasn't been a trio of rookies on one team in years.
It's arguable he's not been as good as Marner, but if he is, it isn't a knock. Marner looks like a star out there and put up some of the best seasons in OHL history.

[the2bears]

Surely there must be a multi-quote feature here. What say you BigTuna?

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by gt4flames

Notable players in this tourney:
connor mcdavid ( current points leader)
mark scheitle( his line mate)
taylor hall ( you know who he is)
corey perry (hart trophy, rocket richard winner)
artemi planarian (calder trophy winner with 77 points)

What a sad state hockey is in, when a flatworm can win the Calder.

(Ah, the blessings of autocorrupt.)

[flamesforcup]

Ya i love Ovi and Subbans personallitys and wish there were more. But Laine just comes off arrogent