Matthews’ defence. This isn’t my favourite thing to emphasize, but at some point we have to address this: Auston Matthews is not good defensively, yet.
POLL: How good would you consider Auston Matthews to be in the defensive zone?
— Acting the Fulemin (@ATFulemin) October 16, 2018 My esteemed colleague Arvind tweeted about this and got a huge amount of shit for it. But he’s right. The Leafs bleed chances when Matthews is on. In expected goals against rate since the start of last season, Matthews is the fourth-worst forward in the NHL (min. 300 minutes at 5v5.) Phil Kessel, who is famous for being a conscientious objector to the very idea of defence, ranks 25th-worst on that list. Not great,…
