State Your Case: Is Matthews or Robertson more prolific?

When the Toronto Maple Leafs play the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday (8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, HULU, SNO, SN NOW), it will feature two of the best young forwards in Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews and Stars forward Jason Robertson.

Matthews, 25, has 485 points (271 goals, 214 assists) in 433 NHL games. Robertson, 23, has 166 points (81 goals, 85 assists) in 153 games.
Matthews won the 2017 Calder Trophy voted as the NHL rookie of the year. Robertson was runner-up to Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov in 2020-21.
Both are potent, but which one is the most dangerous scorer right now, Matthews or Robertson?
That's the question before NHL.com writers Mike Morreale and Tracey Myers in this installment of State Your Case.
Morreale:I realize Matthews isn't currently producing goals with the regularity he did a season ago, when he became the third Toronto player to win the Hart Trophy voted as the NHL most valuable player after leading the League with 60 goals. But that's no reason to think he's lost his touch. Matthews has the best shot in the NHL, so he just needs to get back to putting it to good use. He will. Let's not forget, he scored 18 goals in his first 26 games of last season. He's six goals short of that pace after 26 games this season. The 25-year-old scored 42 goals in his final 47 regular-season games of 2021-22. He leads the Maple Leafs with 112 shots on goal while averaging 20:24 of ice time, so he'll continue to get his chances. It's interesting to note that Matthews ranks second in the NHL with 51 missed shot attempts, seven behind Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin. Matthews led the League with 136 missed shots in his MVP season, so he's going to figure it out. Soon.

Myers:There's no doubt you have to be aware of Matthews whenever he's on the ice, but I'm going with Jason Robertson as the most dangerous shooter right now. The way I gauge a shooter, right or wrong, is how easy they make it look. Robertson is the epitome of that right now, with 41 points (23 goals, 18 assists) and four game-winning goals in 25 games. He gets his shot off so fast, this quick flick that is strong and true in its aim. Neither hesitates to shoot -- Matthews has 112 shots on goal, one ahead of Robertson -- but Robertson's shooting percentage is 20.7 compared to Matthews' 10.7. It also cracks me up that Robertson missed just about all of training camp waiting for his latest contract. Not that he probably wasn't shooting on his own while it was getting done, but it's obviously different being on the ice against your opponents. He's picked up where he's left off last season and has become one of the most prolific scorers in the NHL.
Morreale:I agree with Tracey that Robertson has made scoring goals look easy so far, but is his current scoring pace sustainable? Robertson is scoring 0.92 goals per game and that, in my opinion, is unsustainable. After all, Matthews averaged 0.82 goals per game when he became the first to score 60 in a season since Steven Stamkos (60) in 2011-12. Matthews is scoring 0.46 goals per game and I'm betting he'll start to pick up the pace over the second quarter of the season because he's already provided a history of scoring dominance. Since entering the NHL in 2016-17, Matthews leads active players in goals (271) and goals-per game (0.63; minimum five games). Let's also not forget, Robertson plays left wing while Matthews is given more responsibility as a center, and the latter has a 52.0 face-off winning percentage. I take Matthews in the end.

Myers:Robertson's pace probably isn't sustainable. The game is full of streaks and slumps, right? But Robertson hasn't been shy about shooting, so I think he'll still be producing at a solid rate. One of his issues last season was he had a lot of shots blocked (107 attempts blocked on 220 shots on goal). He's still getting a decent amount blocked (37) but has 111 shots on goal this season. And if we're talking goals per game, since his debut in 2019-20, Robertson has 0.53 and is second this season to Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin (1.00), who hasn't played since Oct. 25. Like I said, if you're an opponent, you have to watch out for both. Matthews, the No. 1 pick by the Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Draft, has had that reputation since. Robertson, a second-round pick (No. 39) by the Stars in the 2017 NHL Draft is earning the same credentials more every game.