Welcome to The TSN Hockey Bobcast - an all-new, fan-focused podcast where TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie addresses your questions on hockey...and just about anything else.
Subscribe and listen to the full podcast here: iTunes / SoundCloud / tsn.ca/bobcast
Send your questions to bobcast@bellmedia.ca and TSN Hockey Insider might just answer them in future episodes.
Here are a couple of topics from this week's edition that stood out.
Where would Matthews have gone in the 2015 Draft? And how does he stack up against Jack Eichel now?
Bob McKenzie: "First off, obviously the 2015 Draft was Connor McDavid to Edmonton at No. 1, Jack Eichel to Buffalo at No. 2, Dylan Strome to Arizona at No. 3, and Mitch Marner to Toronto at No. 4. If Matthews had been eligible for that draft, the consensus at the time was that he would have been the No. 3 overall pick. So it would have went McDavid, 1, to Edmonton, Eichel, 2, to Buffalo, and Matthews, 3, to his hometown Arizona Coyotes. I believe the Leafs would have still taken Marner at No. 4.
As for the question about hindsight, would Matthews have been a better pick than Eichel? Keep something in mind here – Eichel had that high ankle sprain in the fall, and he’s been on fire since he’s come back. His numbers have been as good as almost any player in the National Hockey League over the last number of months. I know the presumption when Matthews was shooting the lights out and Eichel was injured or initially a bit of a slow start coming back from injury that Matthews was by far the better player. I think we have to wait and see on that one and I’m not sure we should necessarily conclude that Matthews is head and shoulders better than Eichel or vice-versa.
Is Marchand a Hart candidate?
McKenzie: "...This guy has carried the Bruins on his back this year. Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci have had off years offensively and David Pastrnak and Tuukka Rask have been inconsistent. The Bruins were not supposed to be a playoff team in any of the preseason predictions and yet here they are. What single player has meant more to their team? Not SidneyCrosby. Likely not Brent Burns although both are elite players. That leaves Connor McDavid, not including Devan Dubnyk and possibly Braden Holtby. Marchand almost has the best Corsi in the league and is irritating as hell, but heck, so was Cory Perry. This guy should be in the discussion."
