“In what world is Auston Matthews a better center than Nick Suzuki?”

Félix Forget
“In what world is Auston Matthews a better center than Nick Suzuki?”
Credit: Matt Garies/NHLI via Getty Images

Last Sunday, the NHL Network released its ranking of the top 20 centers in the NHL. Nick Suzuki, who was expected to rank fairly high on the list, came in ninth.

Unsurprisingly, there are some players ahead of him. It would have been surprising to see him rank higher than Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, or Macklin Celebrini—we can all agree on that.

But there are some names ahead of him that have sparked some discussion.

Auston Matthews, for example, is one of them. The Maple Leafs' captain just had a tough season—one that, in reality, bears no resemblance to the 100-point season capped off with a Selke Trophy that Suzuki just had.

And Sid Seixeiro, on his show The Sid Seixeiro Show, was pretty outraged when he saw this. He even wondered in what world such a ranking could be justified.

He argues that right now, it's hard to give Matthews any advantage over Suzuki.

We know that Matthews, at his best, is undoubtedly one of the best centers in the NHL. He's capable of being one of the league's top (and perhaps the top) scorers while also being extremely solid defensively.

Except that it's been a while since we've seen that version of Matthews on the ice. He's just had two less-than-impressive seasons that were largely marred by injuries.

And that's why Seixeiro thinks it's silly to rank Matthews ahead of Suzuki, who keeps getting better year after year.

In terms of raw talent, ranking Matthews ahead of Suzuki is a defensible position. But on-ice results over the past two years clearly favor the Canadiens' captain.

Maybe this ranking will give him the motivation to keep excelling and to try to earn the recognition he deserves throughout the league. Because, after all, what happens on the ice is what matters most.


In a nutshell

– Hehe.

– The NFL is ending its Pro Bowl.

– He's unstoppable.

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