Can Auston Matthews Surpass Patrick Kane as the Best American Player of All-Time?

PUBLICATION

Sam Walker
April 13, 2022 (10:34)

SHARE THIS STORY

The Blackhawk super fan in me: Absolutely not! Patrick Kane is the best American born player of all-time no questions asked. The realistic side of me: We still have a long way to go before we can have this debate, and a lot can change in that time:

Throughout this season, Auston Matthews has treated all us NHL fans to some stuff we haven't seen in a while. Matthews has scored an incredible 58 goals in just 67 games played this season, while also putting up 41 assists for 99 points.

Barring anything crazy happening in the last 10 games of the season, Auston Matthews is going to win the Hart Trophy for 2021-22. When talking about his great season, some tend to forget that he missed a few games at the beginning of the year after wrist surgery and two games due to suspension.

At just 24 years of age, Matthews has already scored 257 goals in 401 games while seemingly just entering the prime years of his career. With a loaded Maple Leafs team looking to make it out of the first round for the first time since 2004, they're going to need Matthews to keep up this historic pace.

Now I said before that we still have a long way to go before we can have the debate as to if Auston Matthews can overtake Patrick Kane as the best American born player ever, which is true. That doesn't mean if we talk about it, we have to point out the negatives in each player's game.

We should be celebrating that we have been blessed to watch most of Patrick Kane's career and are just getting a sniff of what Auston Matthews has to give.

I still remember being in the arena for Matthews debut where he scored 4 goals! At the time, it was one of the coolest hockey experiences ever. As of today, that moment just keeps getting more and more special.

When talking about awards, Matthews has already accomplished so much. He's won the Rocket, the Calder, NHL second team all-star and a 5 time NHL all-star game participant. He is definitely going to be adding more hardware to his trophy case by the end of his career.

1 thing that can be discussed right now, is the playoff success. The Maple Leafs have been clowned on for over a decade about how their team has not made it to the second round of the playoffs since 2004. Matthews has made the playoffs 4 times in his career so far, failing to meet the expectation that comes with being a star player for one of the league's best teams. By the time Patrick Kane got to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2007, they had only made the playoffs twice in their past 11 seasons, losing both times in the first round.

Both Kane and Matthews joined struggling original 6 franchises that had not seen playoff success in well over a decade. However, by the time Kane was Matthews' current age he had already lifted the Stanley Cup twice while also winning a Conn Smythe award.

Of course Stanley Cup's don't tell the full story of who is the better player, but they do hold some weight. With the Hawks about to enter full rebuild mode, the future of Patrick Kane is uncertain in Chicago. If he stays in Chicago, it is very unlikely he'll win more Stanley Cup's keeping him at 3.

Matthews currently has this year plus two more years on his contract with the Leafs before he becomes a UFA. With the Atlantic Division stacked this year and it doesn't look like it's getting easier, it's going to be a toss up on who can make it out of the Eastern Conference.

With the Leafs in pretty deep salary cap trouble the next couple years, does Matthews look to re-sign? Or does he move elsewhere to get closer to that championship.
Either way, as a hockey fan, I can't wait to see what Matthews can do in the future. As well as what Patrick Kane still has to offer in his mid 30's. One day Auston Matthews might be the best American born player ever, until then, we will watch and admire.