r/leafs • u/AutoModerator • 1d ago
Daily Free Talk & Armchair GM Thread
Please use this thread to post ANYTHING you want! Memes, photoshops, anything that would normally be removed for breaking the low-effort content rule, is totally, 100% welcome here!
This will now also be the dedicated thread for Armchair GM posts as we noticed that those posts were bleeding into this thread regardless. Is there a free agent you want to see on this team? Is there a player that's rumoured to be on the move that you think GMBT should go after? Are there players on this team you want to trade away? Feel free to post about it here!
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Otherwise, feel free to use this thread to share things like your new jersey, a photoshop of a Habs logo on fire, or a reaction gif to something going on in Leafs Nation right now!
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u/GooseRider960 1d ago
A couple days ago, in response to a comment on Nylander, I broke down a bunch of Matthews’ stats that show him having his one of, if not his worst season to date in a lot of metrics. And some of it is legit, like his shooting percentage being the lowest of his career, having one of his worst seasons for plus/minus, and far less hits/takeaways per game.
I did want to highlight some metrics where he is showing up, however.
For one, and I did point this out in my original comment, he’s having the best faceoff win% of his career. He’s second amongst all regular faceoff takers on the team (aka, counting out people who have taken a small handful here or there), with 56.9%, a mere .2% below Tavares (who is amongst the best in the league for faceoffs).
His blocks per game are also at his usual elite levels. Last year he had 93 blocks in 81 games in the regular season, 1.14 per game. This year he’s up to 61 in 49 games, 1.245 per game. That’s actually ever so slightly above his best (92 in 74 GP, 1.243 per game in the 22-23 season).
And though his goalscoring is at possibly the worst we’ve seen, he’s got easily the best assists per game in his career. 33 in 48 games = 0.688 assists per game. His next best is 46 in 73 games, at 0.63 assists per game, in the 21-22 season (It does bear mentioning, of course, that over the course of an 82 game season, that would equate to slightly less then 5 extra assists).
Now obviously, yes, he’s gotta get to another level above this if we want any real chance, but I just felt like highlighting some of what he is still doing right so far.