(Ottawa) Every year, throughout the NHL, barely ten defenders, sometimes fewer, reach the 60 point mark. In the Canadian’s rich history, only 10 have done it.
The threshold that Mike Matheson reached on Long Island on Thursday evening is therefore not trivial. Within the Habs organization, those who have been there before him are essentially members of the Hockey Hall of Fame – Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard, Chris Chelios –, if not backs who were part of the elite of the circuit at their time – Jean-Claude Tremblay, Andrei Markov, PK Subban…
For months, there has been a lot of talk about Nick Suzuki, whose 76 points already form the second best harvest of a CH player in the 21st century.e century. Matheson is sailing in the same waters, approaching the 64 points of Sheldon Souray (2006-2007) and Andrei Markov (2008-2009).
In the press scrum on Friday, after his club’s training in the Ottawa region, the Montrealer was little moved by his exploits. It was only after the game against the Islanders that he was informed that he was joining such an exclusive club, he assured.
“It’s not something I watch a lot,” he said, smiling. The more I think about it, the less I focus on the aspects of my game that help me play well. At the same time, it shows that I am lucky to play with such good players. You can’t get 50 assists if you don’t have great players on the ice with you. »
In deep waters
Mike Matheson’s offensive season is certainly exceptional. That being said, when we study the list of harvests of at least 60 points in the history of the CH, another statistic jumps out.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Mike Matheson is having an impressive offensive season, reaching the 60-point plateau.
At -24, the defender’s differential is disproportionately lower than that of those ahead of him. In this, his performance is reminiscent of that of Sheldon Souray mentioned above: 64 points and -28.
The differential is a heavily flawed statistic, if only because of the goals scored into empty nets. And a player can be given a +1 or a -1 without having had any impact on the game.
Regardless, the extremes are generally revealing. At the top of the list, we find good players playing on good teams. At the bottom, defensively vulnerable players, in particular, but especially skaters associated with bad teams – 9 of the bottom 10 ranks in the NHL are currently occupied by players from the San Jose Sharks or the Chicago Blackhawks.
Matheson’s case is more nuanced. At five against five, he faces the crème de la crème of the circuit night after evening, said Martin St-Louis on Friday. This already seemed obvious to us, but a quick compilation of The Press confirms this.
For each of the Habs’ eight main defenders, we have established the list of the 15 attackers against whom they played the most minutes at five-on-five in 2023-2024. For the entire season, still at five against five, the top 15 de Matheson and Kaiden Guhle maintained points per game averages of 0.61 and 0.6, respectively. Behind them, David Savard (0.49) and Jordan Harris (0.44) also had to deal with tough assignments, from which we further subtracted Justin Barron (0.41) and Johnathan Kovacevic (0.39), but especially Arber Xhekaj (0.32) and Jayden Struble (0.31).
Matheson, moreover, eats up lots and lots of minutes. In the entire NHL, only Drew Doughty and John Carlson have more average ice time than him (25:31).
“The more our team improves, the more its differential will improve,” predicted Martin St-Louis. Matheson admitted that it could be “frustrating” to see this -24 taint his record, “but that’s not the most important thing,” he clarified.
He argues that several of the goals scored against him were in an empty cage (13, in fact), or that many others were undoubtedly “not [sa] mistake “. “But there are some that were my fault, and those are the ones I think about the most,” adds the man who describes himself as his harshest critic.
“I just want to be better in all aspects of the game,” he added. I look back at this year, and I remember a lot more of the games that I would like to see again, that I could have done something different for. »
“Manage risk”
It is true that statistics, as Martin St-Louis once again pointed out, “do not tell the whole story”.
The fact remains that Matheson’s game, despite all his individual qualities, is imperfect. His defensive indicators are essentially in the red, and he finds himself on the ice for… a lot of the opponent’s goals. At five against five, especially, but also when his team plays on a numerical advantage – again, the responsibility is shared. Soberly, St-Louis speaks of the importance for him of “managing the risk he takes during matches”.
“He’s a player who has a lot of strengths,” he recalled. As a coach, you have to find the balance to coach players like that. He has to be responsible defensively, but he is also a player who can change the shape of a match with his strengths. »
It’s easier to ask a guy to manage risk than it is to ask a guy to do more.
Martin St-Louis
Matheson, for his part, approaches what comes next with humility. “I have a lot more to give,” he believes. It’s exciting. I will continue to work to reach new levels. »
The statement may seem banal. But coming from a player who, at the dawn of his thirties, shatters all his previous personal peaks, we can assume that it is spoken seriously.
Primeau against the Senators
PHOTO MARY ALTAFFER, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Cayden Primeau
Cayden Primeau will be CH’s starting goaltender against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. The American suffered defeat in regulation time in his two most recent starts, his first such streak this season. Furthermore, Kaiden Guhle did not train with his teammates on Friday, although he followed them on this three-match trip. Barring a major surprise, he shouldn’t be in uniform in Kanata.