Auston Matthews Patrik Laine: Comparing Recent 1-2 Picks NHL Draft History

Auston Matthews Patrik Laine Debate: Where Will They Compare as 1-2 in Recent NHL Draft History?

Auston Matthews Patrik Laine debate is heating up as we near closer to June’s NHL Draft in Buffalo.

The pair will represent their respective countries on the International stage at this year’s World Championships which kick-off on Friday.

The consensus among scouts are that this year’s top three picks (Matthews, Laine, Puljujarvi) are NHL ready in the Fall, and should be franchise type players. Many scouts would even argue that the real debate is between the two Finn’s ranked 2nd/3rd.

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Questions still remain when you’re dealing with the unknown of a prospect. One of the biggest questions people are asking is where Matthews/Laine will rank among 1-2 draft picks as we look back further down the road.

*It’s worth noting that any opinions are purely speculative. There is no way of knowing with certainty where the pair will rank.

Before we attempt to solve this burning question of the Auston Matthews Patrik Laine debate, we’re going to rank players drafted 1st/2nd since 1990 (from worst to best). There is sure to be disagreement with this list, but let me explain how the rankings will be based.

The rankings take into consideration longevity, productivity, and talent. So, those unfortunate players alongside Patrik Stefan, Alexandre Daigle or Rick DiPietro are bound to rank low, even if a Sidney Crosby type had have been drafted with them. We also have to put on our “genie hat” to predict the recent draft classes (they could obviously rise or fall over time).

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26. 1996

1 Chris Phillips (Ottawa) – 1179gp 288pts
2 Andrei Zyuzin (San Jose) – 496gp 120pts

25. 2000

1 Rick DiPietro (NY Islanders) – 318gp
2 Dany Heatley (Atlanta) – 869gp 791pts

24. 1995

1 Bryan Berard (Ottawa) – 619gp 323pts
2 Wade Redden (NY Islanders) – 1023gp 457pts

23. 2012

1 Nail Yakupov (Edmonton) – 252gp 111pts
2 Ryan Murray (Columbus) – 160gp 49pts

22. 1994

1 Ed Jovanovski (Florida) – 1128gp 500pts
2 Oleg Tverdovsky (Anaheim) – 713gp 317pts

21. 1999

1 Patrik Stefan (Atlanta) – 455gp 188pts
2 Daniel Sedin (Vancouver) – 1143gp 942pts

20. 1993

1 Alexandre Daigle (Ottawa) – 616gp 327pts
2 Chris Pronger (Hartford) – 1167gp 698pts

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19. 1992

1 Roman Hamrlik (Tampa Bay) – 1395gp 638pts
2 Alexei Yashin (Ottawa) – 850gp 781pts

18. 2011

1 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton) – 313gp 222pts
2 Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado) – 356gp 246pts

17. 1991

1 Eric Lindros (Quebec) – 760gp 865pts
2 Pat Falloon (San Jose) – 575gp 322pts

16. 2006

1 Erik Johnson (St.Louis) – 529gp 220pts
2 Jordan Staal (Pittsburgh) – 689gp 391pts

15. 2002

1 Rick Nash (Columbus) 922gp 733pts
2 Kari Lehtonen (Atlanta) 553gp

14. 1998

1 Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay) – 1212gp 949pts
2 David Legwand (Nashville) – 1136gp 618pts

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13. 1990

1 Owen Nolan (Quebec) – 1200gp 885pts
2 Petr Nedved (Vancouver) 982gp 717pts

12. 2014

1 Aaron Ekblad (Florida) – 159gp 75pts
2 Sam Reinhart (Buffalo) – 88gp 43pts

11. 2013

1 Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado) – 218gp 153pts
2 Aleksander Barkov (Florida) – 191gp 119pts

10. 2010

1 Taylor Hall (Edmonton) – 381gp 328pts
2 Tyler Seguin (Boston) – 426gp 355pts

9. 2007

1 Patrick Kane (Chicago) – 658gp 663pts
2 James van Riemsdyk (Philadelphia) – 446gp 277pts

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8. 2001

1 Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta) 816gp 816pts
2 Jason Spezza (Ottawa) 843gp 812pts

7. 2003

1 Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh) 653gp
2 Eric Staal (Carolina) 929gp 781pts

6. 2009

1 John Tavares (NY Islanders) – 510gp 471pts
2 Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay) – 470gp 229pts

Auston Matthews Patrik Laine Projection (explanation below)

5. 2005

1 Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh) – 707gp 938pts
2 Bobby Ryan (Anaheim) – 607gp 447pts

4. 1997

1 Joe Thornton (Boston) – 1367gp 1341pts
2 Patrick Marleau (San Jose) – 1411gp 1036pts

3. 2008

1 Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay) – 569gp 562pts
2 Drew Doughty (Los Angeles) – 606gp 318pts

2. 2015

1 Connor McDavid (Edmonton) – 45gp 48pts
2 Jack Eichel (Buffalo) – 81gp 56pts

1. 2004

1 Alex Ovechkin (Washington) 839gp 966pts
2 Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh) 644gp 760pts

Predicting Where Auston Matthews Patrik Laine Will Rank

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Matthews/Laine have the potential to slide in behind the 2005 class of Sidney Crosby/Bobby Ryan, which places them just ahead of 2009’s John Tavares/Victor Hedman. This range consists of 1-2’s where one player became a star, and another a very good player.

Could they challenge for one of the top two spots? There’s always a possibility, but it’s highly unlikely – those are legitimate (future) superstars. Could they end up in 3-4 range currently occupied by high-end star players? Perhaps.

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While both Matthews/Laine have the potential to be stars in this league, draft history would suggest there’s a possibility that one of these guys develops into nothing more than a quality 1st liner.

Where do you think these two prospects will rank 5-10 years down the road as we look back at the 2016 NHL Draft?