Ex-Maple Leaf reveals why McDavid reached the Stanley Cup Finals before Matthews

The first overall picks in 2015 and 2016, Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid have been compared to each other since their career started. They are both superstars in the NHL, with their own attributes.

However, one is currently in the Stanley Cup Finals, while the other has been out of the playoffs for over a month. In fact, since they got drafted, Matthews won only one playoff round, while McDavid won seven.

If McDavid managed to win as many playoff rounds, it's because he takes things into his own hands and change the outcome of the game by himself.

In his career, he tallied 106 points in 67 playoff games, while Matthews scored 48 points in 55 games. In only 12 more games, McDavid scored nearly twice as many points as Matthews.

That's what highlighted the former Leafs player Kris Versteeg on the JD Bunkis Podcast.

In his own words:

He also talked about how the Oilers superstars are well supported by the rest of the team, showing that depth players also make the difference in the playoffs:

On paper, it's hard to say if the Oilers were better than the Leafs entering the 2024 playoffs. If the Oilers managed to reach the Finals, it's because leaders rose up, role players did their jobs and everyone in the locker room was on the right mindset.

With Craig Berube taking charge in Toronto, it is expected that major changes will be made about the team's mentality that could help the Leafs reach the Oilers' level.

Do you think we'll get a chance to see a Stanley Cup Finals between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers in a near future?

Source: Former Leaf identifies what the Oilers stars do that the Leafs stars don't do