Auston Matthews discusses how important it is to him to become a more complete player
For Auston Matthews, being involved in each and every facet of the game is important - not only because it increases his ice time, but also because he's one of the best 200-foot players on the team. So, naturally, when the opportunity to step in and kill penalties came up, Matthews jumped at it.
Sheldon Keefe and company lost a number of penalty killers in recent years, after Zach Hyman departed for Edmonton in the summer of 2021, Ilya Mikheyev bolted to Vancouver in the summer of 2022 and Alex Kerfoot left for Arizona this past summer. While none of these players were high-end point producers in Toronto, they still added a tremendous amount of value on the PK.
Matthews hadn't played much on the penalty kill over the course of his career, but as his game began to develop, it became very clear to the coaching staff that he was a player who could be trusted in all situations. The last two seasons, in specific, Matthews seemed to make real strides in improving the defensive aspects of his game. Naturally, the next organic progression here is to have him begin to kill penalties, which is what Sheldon Keefe proposed to him this summer. Matthews not only obliged, but he told TSN's Mark Masters this week that he's actually excited about it.
One of the best two-way centers of this era was Patrice Bergeron, who announced his retirement earlier this summer. Matthews is more offensively gifted than Bergeron ever was. However, there aren't many forwards who can claim to be the best defensive forward in the NHL. Bergeron was certainly one of them.
Players like Aleksander Barkov, Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault are certainly very solid defensive forwards, but Auston Matthews is not only better than each of these players offensively, he also has all of the tools to be as good or better defensively, which could help put him on the Selke Trophy map. Bergeron, a 6-time winner of the prestigious award, was untouchable during his time in the league, but now that he has called it a career, there's an opening for the next two-way king of the National Hockey League. Matthews may be next in line to sit on that throne, but it involves excelling in a penalty killing role while also not sacrificing the offense that he has become famous for. I, personally, believe he's up to the task.
| POLL | ||
28 SEPTEMBRE | 224 ANSWERS Auston Matthews discusses how important it is to him to become a more complete player Will Auston Matthews be a finalist for the Selke Trophy this year? | ||
| Yes | 126 | 56.3 % |
| No | 61 | 27.2 % |
| He's paid to score goals. Go for another Rocket | 37 | 16.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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