August 15, 2025<\/a><\/p>\nAuston Matthews is clearly the player that should have been at the very least considered and should probably be on this list over some names. He\u2019s the most talented player on this Leafs team and by the end of his career, will probably finish as one of the best Leafs of all-time.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s go forward-by-forward and see if Matthews should or shouldn\u2019t be on this list over them.<\/p>\n
Patrice Bergeron \u2013 Bergeron is arguably the best two-way center of this generation and was as reliable as anyone, and probably could still be playing. So, probably not.<\/p>\n
Sidney Crosby \u2013 Ah, no.<\/p>\n
Pavel Datsyuk \u2013 A player that dropped jaws almost every night and was as impactful in all three zones as some players dream of being in just one. So that\u2019s now three players Matthews probably shouldn\u2019t be in over.<\/p>\n
Leon Draisaitl \u2013 Draisaitl only just became average defensively this past season. Before that, he was simply cashing in while in the offensive zone and on the power play. And this is all certainly recency bias. Matthews has a down season due to injury and the German forward has now been at back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals. But, Matthews has scored two more goals than Draisaitl has in his career, in 161 fewer games. Almost three entire seasons worth of games not included. And then factor in Matthews\u2019s dominance defensively for most of his career and it\u2019s certainly an argument that the Leafs captain should be in ahead of Draisaitl. It\u2019s close, but the Oilers forward just had more time to hit milestones. Oh, and playing with Connor McDavid.<\/p>\n
Patrick Kane \u2013 The most one-dimensional player on this list. Sure, he has some Stanley Cup rings and is still playing today, but we have to be serious here. The resume is long and Kane had the benefit of debuting all the way back in 2007, but if we\u2019re talking peak vs. peak, Matthews has already shown so much more impact to the whole game of hockey than Kane ever has. It\u2019ll be controversial, but Matthews is better and should be on the list.<\/p>\n
Anze Kopitar \u2013 By the time Matthews is 37 years old like Kopitar is, these two players will be talked about in different tiers. Kopitar is outstanding and has been extremely consistent through three decades, but if on equal playing fields of games played and such, Matthews is ahead. But, that\u2019s not what this exercise is and when talking about the first 25 years of this century, Kopitar deserves this slot.<\/p>\n
Nikita Kucherov \u2013 Kucherov is an offensive freak and, like Kane, is pretty one-dimensional when it comes to his impact. But, his offense is even better and his resume is about the same already at the age of 32, when comparing him to Kane. So, while we can say Matthews\u2019s overall game should take him above, it\u2019s a little hard to argue that Kucherov doesn\u2019t deserve a space on this list.<\/p>\n
Nathan MacKinnon – No. Maybe they\u2019re equals when it\u2019s all said and done but MacKinnon has more than earned this.<\/p>\n
Evgeni Malkin \u2013 Yeah, the pedigree is of course one thing and winning so much adds more to all of that. But Matthews has everything that Malkin has but is better at a whole lot of them. While we even understand that it\u2019s what the player has done in this quarter century and comparing the two, putting in Matthews over Malkin would probably be the least controversial thing that this list could\u2019ve done (and they would\u2019ve been correct).<\/p>\n
Connor McDavid \u2013 No.<\/p>\n
Alex Ovechkin \u2013 No.<\/p>\n
Steven Stamkos \u2013 This is the one that really seemed a little wild. Sure, those Tampa Bay Lightning teams were good and fun and marked a period of time in the last 25 years of the NHL. But Matthews has already had better seasons than Stamkos ever has, and has already achieved more individually. All Stamkos has done is won two Rocket Richard trophies. Matthews has three of those, plus a Calder, plus a Hart Trophy, and a Lester B. Pearson. It will seem baffling to even talk about these players on the same tier when both of these players are done. And even now, it should be heavily argued.<\/p>\n
With all that said and done, it\u2019s clear to see that at the very least Matthews should have been put on this list instead of a few of these forwards.<\/p>\n
Of course, they will always weigh the amount of Stanley Cups a player has won or just how long they have been around \u2013 so we understand some of these decisions. But when it comes to the achievements as it stands, Matthews stands above even some forwards with rings on their fingers.<\/p>\n