It's not as if this hasn't been done before, but for this post, I want to defer to an article on NHL.com comparing Winnipeg's Patrik Laine and Toronto's Austen Matthews after their debuts. I suppose every hockey reporter will be doing the same around mid-season. But alas...
My own thing is this: Different players. Different style of play. Laine is a pure goal scorer, while Matthews is probably the more all-around player. Not necessarily the better player, but I think he gets the nod for his back-checking. Laine, however, is no slouch on the defensive side of the game either. After only three games, it's impossible and presumptuous to predict who is the "better" player. Certainly one of these guys-barring injury-will claim the Calder trophy. I say Laine, my bias notwithstanding. Both are probably already headed to the Hall of Fame (presuming?) and they will probably always be linked to each other like Gretzky and Lemieux or Crosby and Ovechkin.
Austin has his four-goal debut in a losing cause. Laine has his first NHL goal plus an assist in a winning cause. Wednesday, they meet head-to-head for the first time at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg. Let's see who leads his team to victory more convincingly.