State Your Case: Building team around Matthews or Jack Hughes

Auston Matthews and Jack Hughes are two of the most prolific and exciting United States-born forwards in the NHL.

Matthews, 26, leads NHL with 58 goals and can hit the 60-goal mark for the second time in his NHL career when the Toronto Maple Leafs host Hughes and the New Jersey Devils at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN4, ESPN+, HULU). Selected by Toronto with the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, Matthews, who was born in Sam Ramon, California, and grew up Arizona, has 634 points (357 goals, 277 assists) in 550 NHL games.

Hughes, 22, has 24 goals this season, 19 shy of his NHL career high of 43 he scored last season. The No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and native of Orlando, Florida, has 276 points (111 goals, 165 assists) in 300 NHL games.

They each appear to be a lock to be on the team that represents the United States at the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off in February and the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics in Italy. If healthy, Matthews and Hughes should play at the respective tournaments. It'll be up to the coaching staff to determine how they're used, but the United States can build around them and many other star players.

But who would you take first to build a team around if you were doing it today? That is the question we put before NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen and staff writer Tracey Myers in this edition of State Your Case.

Rosen: I know Tracey is going to argue with me on a few points, so I'll just start with the most obvious why Matthews is the choice: Goal-scoring. The unquestioned main point of this game is you score goals to win and nobody in the world does that better than Matthews. He has scored at least 40 goals in every season dating to 2019-20. His 246 goals since then is the most in the NHL by 28 ahead of Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl. His release is the best in the world. It's not just that he camps out in front and scores, he scores from everywhere. According to NHL EDGE, Matthews has 27 goals from high-danger areas and 19 from mid-range areas. He has three goals from the goal line to the right of the net and seven from the outside of the right face-off circle to the wall. I could go with his speed bursts, his size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds), how he doesn't need the puck on his stick all the time to dominate games, but Matthews does one thing better than every other player in the NHL and that alone should be enough to win this argument.

Myers: Well, in me taking Hughes, I definitely can't argue the goal-scoring. Much. To Hughes' detriment, his heath has been an issue the past few seasons, but when he is healthy, he's putting up the points. He scored 43 goals last season. Yes, I know, it's not Matthews' current 58. He's on another planet this season but stick with me here. Last season, Hughes averaged 1.27 points per game in 78 games, 10th in the NHL and ahead of Mr. Matthews at 1.15. This season in 56 games, he's averaging 1.23 points per game, not too far behind Matthews (1.33). No, Hughes doesn't put up the goals Mathews does each season, but he is someone who can put up the points, at even strength or on the power play, and can be electrifying in the process. He's 22 years old, a scoring threat and therefore my guy around who to build a team.

Rosen: It feels like Tracey is making my argument for me, essentially saying Hughes is a really good player, which is not up for debate here. But if I'm starting a team today with a top American player, I'm building it around Matthews. Here's more reasons why: I mentioned his size, but it's what he does with that size and reach. He's a load to handle and it's, well, shall we say a challenge to get the puck off his stick. That's where his size really comes into play. Trying to play physical against him doesn't work. He spins off. He uses his linemates, gets the puck to them and works to get open so he can get it back in a scoring area. Once he has it, his release is so quick that the puck is on and off his stick before a defender can close on him or a goalie can square up on him. Matthews is also better in the face-off circle and far more trusted there too. He has taken 1,149 face-offs and won 53.3 percent this season vs. Hughes taking 317 and winning 37.2 percent. Let's also give credit to Matthews on the penalty kill. The Maple Leafs use him there for 46 seconds per game. It's a work in progress, especially since they're a bottom tier penalty-killing team (76.0 percent), but New Jersey, a solid PK team (81.2 percent), never uses Hughes in short-handed situations (4:04 total ice time). I guess the point I'm making is people pay to watch Matthews play too.

Myers: Yeah, I'm still sticking with Hughes. I'm not concerned with his size (5-11, 175). The Chicago Blackhawks didn't care about Patrick Kane's size (5-10, 177) when they chose him No. 1 in the 2007 NHL Draft. Kane was good at goal-scoring, better at assisting and great on the power play. The penalty kill? The 200-foot game? Those were not his things, but he was definitely someone to build around to get the great defensive players and top penalty killers. There are very few guys in this league who can do it all but that's not what's up for discussion here. Is Hughes a great player to build around? Heck yes. He's a tremendous young talent who can do plenty. Build around him with players who can complement him and strengthen the team around him.