leevaughn

Every GM, every Coach, every player even McDavid himself (unless he is a complete narcissist) will tell you they would rather have a cup than 150 point player. To not account for leadership and winning in the best player argument is like is not judging the sauce of the best poutine. You Sir, are contrary with no validity.

That's why I'm the brains of this operation!

I have never said any of these guys are bad player and not to be considered the best in the game. Not once. Not ever even implied it. What I am saying is that Nathan Mackinnon has shown a skill set that none of the others has shown. His dismissal to 4th best is to be reconsidered because he has lead his team to the pinnacle of the sport. Dougall said "The fact remains that he is a top 3 player in the league (McDavid & Draisaitl the other two...yes all three are better than MacKinnon who is 4th) and you cannot look at old contracts as comparable, as they are dated. It will happen." Team play and leadership are skills in a team sport. Extremely important ones when the team has to be better than every other team. Leadership on and off the ice. Many of the players on that Avalanche team have never played better hockey before. Leadership plays a huge role in that. Tage Thompson is lighting it up but the small sample size does not make a great, even though he is out preforming all 4 of those guys. Kaprizov could be in the conversation couldn't he? He has no Draisaitl or Marner or Nylander or RNH or Landeskog and Rantanen or Makar or ..... his guy is 36 year old Zuccarello who is having his best season to date. Why is he not in the conversation? Sample size? So sample size it is. My sample size has 1 of those 4 players winning the cup while playing elite top of the league hockey while the others haven't. That is why Mackinnon is currently #1 and should be on any list of who is the best right now.

I believe you. I'm not saying Matthews isn't one of the best players in the league. I'm saying a player needs the points and the intangibles. Mackinnon has proven it by leading his team to a cup. The other three have not. That makes him the better player. The ability to lead your team to the win using all aspects of the game . That is what makes a guy the best player in the league. The playoffs and the Cup should not be dismissed when ranking a player. The bias is in ranking McDavid and Draisaitl 1 and 2 when they are losing. (it's the coaching, it's the defense. it's the injuries, it's the goaltending) al the excuses in the world for years. At what point do we take a look at these two and realize they might not have what it takes to lead or play the team game. (yet?) At this point it's fair to say Matthews is the better player because he's leading Toronto into the win column night in and night out. Winning is what they are paid to do...... in a team environment. That's what makes a player the best. When and if they win a cup the discussion changes. My Toronto Bias had me picking them as one of my favorite's to win the cups this year . Do not mistake my ability to think logically even though Toronto sucks hahaha

I'm saying it's intangibles that make you a top player. (These are skills) The Next gear. Defense. Leadership. The Sheer will to win. The Claude Lemieux effect. The ability to "show up" when it counts. MacKinnon has it. That's why he can't be ranked 4th because his talents surpass putting the puck in the net. Tage Thompson is out-scoring Draisaitl and Matthews by a good shot. Why isn't he on the list . In fact in the last 29 games the kid has 52 points and Connor Mcdavid has 53. Draisaitl has 44 and Matthew has 37. Night in and night out a 36 year old Sidney Crosby leaves more on the ice than any of these guys. They are top talent in the league. The big draw at the ticket booth. I don't think they can be called 1 2 3 until they have a cup. I don't think Matthews has ever been top 5 in points. He's one of the best goal scorers out there but perhaps it's the rest of his game that's lacking. I here a lot of fans complain about McDavid cherry picking a lot. Fuckin hate guys that Cherry Pick.. Where's the Defense? Put up all the goals you want but if your leaving the boys in the zone out to dry on the back check then a huge aspect of your game is missing. I have no complaints about Draisaitl, love the guy. Where's Kucherov? Multi Cup Winner) He is definitely in this conversation. Jason Robertson is another that gets the nod here. I don''t say this with the bias of a habs fan , there are a few guys I would rather see leading my team than Matthews that haven't been mentioned here.

Nah.. you have to be a champion to wear the moniker of the greatest.

Where in my statement did you pick up that nonsense? We're talking elite players.

Except there is only 1 cup winner in your group. A team sport and only 1 has gotten to the pinnacle . Leading his team the whole way. It's really hard for me to agree he's #4 . It's hard for me to agree that McDavid is one of the greatest ever .. for all his points, flash and pizazz there is no cup. Cups make you the best. Rings make Jordan the GOAT over Bronny and Kobe,

@Ralphdog lol that's funny. SPAM EVERYBODY!

@RalphdogYou're slacking

I'll take it from an expert

Just in general. But in this format, he is to gun because of that contract

Ah he's just having an off year

Draisaitl is the best player in the NHL by a significant amount. Change my mind!

c'mon man.. this is the Eddie Murphy of Hockey jokes

Serious? This is gold. @byz likes it.

It's ten years after I was born. I felt the exact same way

When minor league teams pay hommage to their big league teams !

I thought of this as we were recording and was going to bring it up but I guess that "SQUIRREL"

Rooting for a Leaf .. the only times you can justifiably root for a leaf are listed below... #1 The person rooting for a Leaf or the Leafs lives in the GTA #2 They are playing Boston #3 They are the only Canadian Team left in contention for the Cup #4 The person rooting for a Leaf or the Leafs are diagnosable with some kind of extremely rare impediment #5 The person rooting for a Leaf or the Leafs has forgotten the Rouge part of Bleu, Blanc et Rouge and has made a mistake #6 Go Habs Go!

You're going to like it. I give it 2 thumbs up!

Which one?

Oh man,, Dynamite!!

I'm getting a kick out of us .... it's excellent