Expect more Matthews
Mike Babcock doesn’t expect that he and young Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews will see eye-toeye every day.
In an interview at the world hockey championship in Denmark with Darren Dreger posted to TSN’s website on Monday, the Leafs coach indicated it would be unrealistic to think that he and Matthews, or any other player, are going to be on the same page each time they walk into the rink. Babcock recently met with Matthews at the latter’s offseason home in Arizona, this after questions were raised regarding the relationship between the two following the elimination of the Leafs from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“This is what I do know: That the player knows and the coach knows (what goes on between the two) and the rest (the perception of the media and public) doesn’t much matter,” Babcock told Dreger.
It’s understandable that there would be frustration on Matthews’ side, considering he was 22nd in even-strength ice time among NHL forwards this past season, averaging 15 minutes, 57 seconds a game. Ryan Getzlaf of the Ducks led forwards at 17 minutes, 33 seconds, and only three other forwards — Connor McDavid of the Oilers, Artemi Panarin of the Blue Jackets and Anze Kopitar of the Kings — averaged more than 17 minutes at even-strength.
At even-strength, an uptick in Matthews’ usage must be automatic in 2018-19, which will be his third season in the NHL. Matthews scored 29 goals at evenstrength this past season, behind only McDavid (35), Alex Ovechkin of the Capitals (32) and Nikita Kucherov of the Lightning and William Karlsson of the Golden Knights ( both had 31).
The kicker — or kick in the teeth — is Matthews was fifth in that category despite missing 20 games because of injuries; McDavid, Ovechkin and Karlsson played in all 82 games.