Data scientist reveals where Matthews projects to finish on the all-time NHL scoring list
Tired of Auston Matthews yet? Nope - me either! What this kid has done during his short NHL career so far is very impressive and the 24-year-old is well on his way to going down as one of the greatest - if not the greatest - Leafs of all time.
There's been a lot of talk about Matthews' 51 goals in his last 50 games since late last night, but very little talk about exactly what Matthews' career projects out to. Thankfully, Byron Bader, a hockey prospector whose work has been featured on TSN, Sportsnet and The Athletic, gave us a rough idea of what Matthews will likely to produce, if healthy, over the course of his very promising NHL career.
According to Bader, Matthews is in line to produce at least 700 goals in his NHL career, stating that the 2016 1st overall pick will be in the top-10 of the NHL's all-time scoring list - and that's on the conservative side of things. The fact of the matter is that if Matthews continues to improve, he's going to exceed that projection.
Per QuantHockey, Detroit Red Wings great Steve Yzerman rounds out the top-10 with 692 goals in his NHL career, just 2 goals ahead of legend Mario Lemieux, who would have finished a LOT higher on this list were it not for illness and injury. Oddly enough, Matthews is the first player since Super Mario (1995-96) to score 50 goals in any 50-game stretch.
Next on the list, at number 9, is Mark Messier with 694 career goals. If Matthews can net 700 goals, he'll slot in just ahead of Messier, pushing Yzerman out of the top-10. Then again, there's a really good chance that Matthews scores a whole lot more the way he's going. Mike Gartner (708), Phil Esposito (717), Marcel Dionne (731) and Brett Hull (741) round out the next group from number 8 through 5.
Of course, thanks to Alex Ovechkin's pursuit of The Great One's 894 goals, we know that the top-4 consists of Jaromir Jagr (766), Ovi (775 and counting) and Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe (801) and Wayne Gretzky. It is not exactly probable, especially in this day and age, that Matthews will catch this group, but then again, do you want to be the one to tell Auston that he can't do something? I sure don't.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 10 | 353 ANSWERS Data scientist reveals where Matthews projects to finish on the all-time NHL scoring list Will Auston Matthews be a top-10 all-time scorer in the NHL? | ||
| Yes | 288 | 81.6 % |
| No | 25 | 7.1 % |
| He'll be near the top 10, but not quite | 40 | 11.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
