Matthews Isn’t Gretzky. But What Amazing Company He’s Keeping

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Matthews Is Keeping Company with the NHL’s Greatest Goal Scorers

When you look at the players ahead of him after 700 games , it’s an amazing list. Wayne Gretzky. Mario Lemieux. Mike Bossy. Brett Hull. Jari Kurri. These weren’t just good goal scorers. They were the sort of players who could make a goaltender wonder what he was doing wrong, even when he’d done just about everything right.

Gretzky’s number really jumps out. He had 589 goals through his first 700 games. Matthews had 436. That’s a huge gap. But it doesn’t diminish Matthews’ success.

Fans shouldn’t get too carried away comparing players from different eras. The game has changed. Scoring rates, equipment, goaltending, and the way hockey is played all affect these numbers. This compares raw totals, not who the better goal scorer was.

The Fact That Matthews Is Ranked Sixth All Time Needs to Be Appreciated

Still, Matthews being sixth on this list is something worth appreciating. He’s right there with some of the greatest shooters the game has seen, and he’s doing it in an era when scoring goals is hardly easy.

There’s also something fun about seeing Ovechkin just behind him. They’ve played in different generations of the game, but at this particular checkpoint, they’re separated by only two goals. And Ovechkin is the all-time NHL leading goal scorer. The bottom line is that this graphic is a good reminder of just how special Matthews has been as a goal scorer.

Sometimes we get so caught up in what a player hasn’t accomplished yet that we forget to appreciate what he’s already done. This is one of those times. And Maple Leafs fans have every reason to enjoy it.