Can Maple Leafs’ star Auston Matthews TOPPLE ‘The Great Eight’ Alex Ovechkin going forward?

With the National Hockey League (NHL) just a month away, the preparation for its return has begun. Teams have started to assemble their players and form strategies to achieve their goals while players are returning to their camps. One of the teams on whom the focus will be more is the Toronto Maple Leafs and their star man – Auston Matthews.

The forward recently signed a mega deal to continue his stay in Toronto. This move drew several eyes at the club. Recently his teammate, Matthew Knies praised him and called him the best overall player in the league. Fans have now started comparing him to “The Great Eight” Alex Ovechkin, who is looking to break the greatest record in league history and wondering whether the Maple Leafs can topple the NHL great.

The captain of the Washington Capitals currently sits at number two, just behind the “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky, in the number of goals scored. Ovechkin currently sits on 822 goals and needs 72 more to tie the record of Gretzky. Many including Connor Bedard, the number one draft pick this, has backed the Russian forward to break that record.

While Matthews has drawn several comparisons with his rival Connor McDavid, it is a little difficult to predict how his career will pan out in the end. At the moment, Matthews sits at 299 goals and one more goal will see him become the fastest player in Maple Leafs history to three hundred goals. The question now is, how does his career compare to Ovechkin’s?

Related: Alex Ovechkin REVEALS his surprising take on Washington Capitals’ moves and unexpected comparisons surrounding him

Auston Matthews and Alex Ovechkin share several similarities in their NHL careers

When it comes to comparing two players, the task is never. This can get tough when one player is in his prime while the other is in the twilight of his career. Such is the case of Auston Matthews and Alex Ovechkin. The two forward players have left the masses stunned with their goal-scoring prowess and gained a lot of popularity on the way. However, these two have several similarities among them.

One of the most surprising ones is probably that both share the same birthday. While Ovechkin was born on September 17, 1985, Matthews was born twelve years later in 1997. The duo had to miss out on an entire year of the draft because of their late birthdays. The duo has also recorded several similar numbers in their career.

While both crossed the age of 25, they had played more than enough games. Ovechkin has taken part in 475 matches while Matthews has played in six more at 481. The number of goals they have scored at this age is also close. As said before Matthews is on 299 goals, and Ovechkin had scored 301 goals when he was 25.

The forwards have also collected several awards and missed out on the conference finals by the age of 25. Right now Matthews has a long way to go before coming close to the future NHL Hall of Fame. One thing is for sure, he is definitely going to become one of the greats in the NHL if he continues to play the way he does.

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