Auston Matthews: 2016 World Championships Will Remind Us of His Skill

Auston Matthews: 2016 World Championships Will Help Recollect Us of His Outstanding Skill-Set That Helped Him Dominate Against Men in Switzerland

With the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the first overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Auston Matthews will be most likely call Air Canada Centre home next year. However, some are putting a question mark on Matthews’ certainty to go number one in Buffalo this June.

Patrik Laine has made quite the surge to try to catch Matthews at number one during the Liiga playoffs. His 10 goals and 5 assists in 18 playoff games followed by a championship win are very much deserving of the hype. After all, he is only the third player since 1996 to score 10 or more goals in the Liiga playoffs and the 10th U18 player to do it all-time.

"“The big forward has some soft hands and a deadly shot that makes him extremely dangerous from the hash marks in. He moves well although it takes him a bit to get going and is offensive minded. Plays physically when needed, but is not a nasty checker or a natural fighter. Is near impossible to contain and can use his impressive frame to power his way through traffic to the net for a scoring chance.” – Future Considerations"

But does Patrik Laine deserve the full jump over Matthews into the number one position? No. Matthews has been a far more significant player for a far longer time than Patrik Laine has.

Sabre Noise

Most of the spotlight Laine has accumulated has come when Matthews is no longer playing or no longer the main attraction. Since the ZSC Lions have been eliminated in the NLA playoffs, Matthews cannot gain any more positive draft stock. Laine has been put in a perfect situation. However, just because Laine has a had a strong playoff run does not mean he is the better prospect. Auston Matthews will remind viewers of his skill and finesse at the 2016 World Championship, where he and Laine will be on display.

Matthews pure skill and natural ability are far superior to that of Laine’s. That, along with putting up a season in the NLA that rivals seasons Tyler Seguin and Danny Briere had during the lockout… at 2 and 9 years apart, respectively should out Matthews in the first overall category alone.

"“Matthews is a strong, powerful player who has the ability to make those around him elevate their games. He is a real good skater with powerful strides and strong jump. He possesses strong vision, excellent possession skills, a strong shot and the ability to create plays out of nothing for himself and his linemates. He is also strong defensively, bringing a good effort level and complete game.” – Future Considerations"

Laine has a fantastic shot that will find great success at the NHL level, but Matthews can do so many other things with the puck that just amaze you. And Matthews’ shot is pretty good as well.

So to put Laine ahead of Matthews seems just a bit overactive. Jumping on one playoff performance and declaring Laine a better prospect than someone who has been highly touted for almost three years now is a little high-strung, no?

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Keep in mind that everyone has said repeatedly that Matthews could have gone 2nd to 3rd overall in last year’s NHL Draft. Add that to this scout saying “ Eichel couldn’t carry Matthews’ skates to the rink”, which is a little far-fetched, and that is what a franchise player is all about.

A very similar situation happened at this year’s World Junior Championship. Auston Matthews and Team USA were eliminated by Russia and Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujärvi moved on to the Gold Medal game. This lead to conversations and insinuations that one of the Finns could go ahead of Matthews in the NHL Draft.

It may be a legitimate argument, but it is hard to sustain it when Matthews put up 10 goals and 6 assists in his first 14 NLA games while Laine had 4 goals and 3 assists in his opening 14 games. Matthews also played the last three of his first 14 with a back injury.

Next: NHL Mock Draft 4.5: Rounds 1-7

So simply put, once Matthews is playing hockey again at the 2016 World Championships he will wow people and remind us that he is the best prospect in the 2016 NHL Draft. Playing with an average USA team will let his skills shine even more as well.

Team USA begins their World Hockey Championship play on Friday, May 5th against Team Canada. USA Hockey will have a stream of the game at 9:15 AM EST.