Auston Matthews Breaks Silence On His Relationship With Connor McDavid
Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews commented on his relationship with Connor McDavid, as the two have enjoyed a friendly rivalry over the past few seasons.
It's been the topic of conversation for several years as to who is the best player in the NHL. While Connor McDavid has cemented himself as the best overall player in the league, Auston Matthews has been the best goal-scorer over the past few years.
Constantly neck and neck with each other for accolades, the two have formed a friendly rivalry that even led to collaboration with McDonald's to recreate a classic commercial from 30 years ago -- with Mats Sundin and Wayne Gretzky.
But Matthews and McDavid have a mutual respect for each other and the Leafs captain commented on their relationship ahead of a Four Nations Face-Off clash:
You learn a lot just by bouncing things off of each other. He is who he is because of the work ethic he puts in, and he's obviously a special talent with the consistency and everything like that.
I just find anytime I spend time with him, I'm always learning different things.
We talk about the game a lot and maybe how he sees it. Obviously, his skill set-nobody really has that kind of skill set.
Just hearing how he thinks the game or maybe how he likes whatever-where his wingers are on the breakout, different stuff like that. It's always interesting to hear his perspective on different things.
It's no secret that McDavid has a special eye for the game, and his ability to change things on a dime is a testament to how good he is.
So let's compare the two and see if they can find some common ground
Matthews And McDavid: True Generational Talents
Firstly, we have to look at the combined accomplishments of both men to truly appreciate how good they are:
Career Games: 1296
Career Goals: 745
Career Assists: 1012
Career Points: 1757
Career Plus/Minus: +300
Career Awards: 14 (4 Hart, 5 Art Ross, 1 Conn Smythe, 4 Richard)
There's no denying that the NHL has two of the greatest ever playing in their primes at the same time and is benefiting greatly from it.
While Matthews certainly leads in the goal department (including a historic 69-goal campaign last year), McDavid is overall the better player and has moderate playoff success.
McDavid has also been rumored to be a potential free agent signing for the Maple Leafs come 2026 and with a rising salary cap -- the potential of having both men on the same team even for one season would be incredible.
This season, Matthews has been marred by injuries but managed to still put up 20 goals and 25 assists in 40 games before the Four Nations break.
McDavid has been his usual otherworldly self with 22 goals and 49 assists in 49 games.
If the Maple Leafs can weather the storm in the Eastern Conference it's a very big possibility that Matthews and McDavid will meet each other in the Stanley Cup Finals -- and let's hope Matthews learned enough to keep the modern day Gretzky at bay.
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![Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team USA forward Auston Matthews (34) plays the puck against Team Finland in the second period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images](https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/medium/529741.webp "Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team USA forward Auston Matthews (34) plays the puck against Team Finland in the second period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images")
