Is it unfair to say that Bedard is probably the most valuable asset in the NHL? At least for a team like the Blackhawks for sure.

Nah bedard probably fetches like 4 first rounders or smth nuts

Petey, Quinn + your entire prospect pool might get the convo started.

Bedard is probably a top 5 most valuable trade asset in the league. Imagine it would take Pettersson and like Lekkerimaki to kick things off at all

Honestly don't think the hawks would consider trading Bedard no matter what

"Give us your generational player so you can pay a guy 7 years older 12 million bucks a year 4 years before you will be good"

Its an awkward fit to say the least. I dont understand why you would want to include Hronek either but lets stick to the trade. Chicago is not in their window (not even close) so not sure why they would want to do this? Pettersson would likely need to approve the trade too and going to a bottom dweller seems improbable (if they want to do a sign and trade).

Bedard is untradeable. The cost to acquire such a player would defeat the purpose of acquiring him in the first place.

Pointless to discuss. Bedard isn't available.

Bedard, Hughes, McDavid, Makar is the 4

Did Matthews vanish off the face of the earth?

He's no good, all he does is score a lot of goals.

Probably top 2 or 3 given his age and cost control on top of who he is as a player

Yes, 4 years at $13.2M for not the best player in the league and than a UFA and his value is not up there with the rest

McD, Matthews, Makar, MacKinnon all clear imo

Bc 70 goals+defensive beast+6'3" is definitely not the best player rn...



And play defence, win draws while being huge

He's not the best, he needs to prove that he can lead the team in the playoffs and come up big when it matters.

Makar, McDavid are still better, and can't forget about Mackinnon who has another year on his agreement over Matthews and $1.2M per year cheaper and on pace for 135 points this season. Than there's also Kucherov, at $9.5M on pace for 142 points who may not be "better" depending on how someone subjectively defines it, but he's worth more with his contract at $9.5M.

And let's not forget Bedard locked in for 7 to 9 more years is more valuable (not bettter) hands down than Matthews and Jack Hughes for that matter as well.

Yes, but that's it!

If that's so, then there should be raining cups from McDavid, Draisaitl, Makar, Mackinnon and Hughes, right?

Combined: 2 cups (With Mackinnon and Makar on the same team), with McDavid, Hughes and Draisaitl having a combined 0 RD 3 wins...

If cups is the overall decider, why isn't Crosby still the most valuable asset in the league?

And I ignored Kucherov, but I'm not a fan of cap circumvention to win



And yes, 75+ goals is way more impressive than 135 points... Don't get it twisted

Edit: statistically, Matthews way the most dangerous shot creator in RD2 last year... Put him against anyone else other than .950 Bob and he has 5+ goals

So what else does that leave? Play driving, Matthews does that...

Playmaking? Matthews still has 25 assists... What does Matthews not do well?

You are obviously biased here while I have no dog in the fight and am looking at this objectively. What I said was, lead the team in the playoffs (the team as a whole wins rounds and cups, but the player needs to lead regardless of the performance of the team) and Matthews does not do that at the level seen by Makar, Mackinnon, Kucherov or McDavid. Look at Matthews production in the playoffs comparably.

Playoff Stats, rate of production:
Mackinnon = 77 games played, 44 goals and 100 points
Makar = 61 games played, 16 goals and 65 points (as a defenseman)
McDavid = 49 games played, 29 goals and 75 points
Kucherov = 142 games played, 53 goals and 160 points
Matthews = 50 games played, 22 goals and 44 points

Clearly, Matthews simply does not produce at the elite level of the other aforementioned guys on the list in the playoffs. As a "goal scorer" he only bests a defenseman and barely Kurcherov (gpg), but Kucherov who is a playmaker far exceeds point production comparably to easily offset and consider Kucherov a better playoff performer.

And since you mentioned Crosby...
180 games played, 71 goals and 201 points

I know you're biased, and that's natural as a fan, but you can't state Matthews is the best player in the league when he can't perform like the other elite talent in the league come playoff time (when it matters).

Sorry, sarcasm and jokes don't come off well sometimes on this. Matthews should absolutely be in the top 5.

With the execption of Mackinnon, who had 10 points in his first season in the playoffs, the players you mentioned either didn't play in the playoffs their first 2 years after being drafted or preformed just as poorly as Matthews did...

If you take out his one series against Boston (I'll put in brackets if you want to also take out the Capitals series in his 1rst year)

Matthews' production would be 43-21-21-42 (37-17-20-37) which is a higher GPG thank Makar, Crosby and Kucherov...

The smaller sample sizes (especially in these later years) are making it harder for Matthews' points to look better and part of that's on him... And again, is Crosby the most valuable player in the NHL right now because he's demonstrated he can lead them to multiple cups? No, BC of other factors...

And you're also forgetting about the defensive aspect...

For example, as poor as you thought Matthews was in the second round, how many goals did Barkov, Tkachuk, Point, Kucherov (which you named) and Stamkos have combined in the playoffs?

And how many of those were even strength?

Oh, I get it, it's hard to be sarcastic when you can't hear stuff like tone and mood and other stuff

First season or most recent season is irrelevant. I'm looking at the totality of playoff performances by each player and Matthews ranks at the bottom of the list I provided (including Crosby who you brought up). Matthews has not performed at an elite level in the playoffs and it's clear as day...there is no removing some years to compare.

Mackinnon = 77 games played, 44 goals and 100 points
Makar = 61 games played, 16 goals and 65 points (as a defenseman)
McDavid = 49 games played, 29 goals and 75 points
Kucherov = 142 games played, 53 goals and 160 points
Matthews = 50 games played, 22 goals and 44 points
180 games played, 71 goals and 201 points

Barely outperforming a defeseman is not good for who you claim is the best player in the league. Mathews is not the best player in the league...it's simple. Even rated by other players, they do this every year and just did it during the all-star break, Matthews wasn't in the discussion from other NHL players. They hands down selected McDavid, Mackinnon and Kucherov in that order for forwards.

Matthews is a great player, he's elite, but calling him the best player in the league with McDavid and mackinnon is an uphill battle. Kucherov I can bite there is definitely an argument and I would even side with Matthews on that one potentially.

In terms of best player and player/asset with the most value, those are simply two different things. In terms of most valuable in a trade as an asset, age and contract status (years remaining on current deal, UFA vs. RFA, etc.) are a HUGE part of the evaluation outside of performance alone. Value-wise, Bedard is more valuable than any of these guys on a ELA and an RFA versus players who will be UFAs in 2 to 4 years and on the wrong side of 30. Makar has a stronger case against Bedard more so than even McDavid as example.

At the end of the day, goals are primary points for sure, but they simply don't cancel out point production out-wright. A player on pace for 112 points even with 70 goals (Matthews) doesn't automatically make him better than a player with 140 points...goal creation is important. What Matthews is doing so far this season is incredible no doubt, but it doesn't automatically propel him into the best player in the league and definitely not most valuable player/asset.