Gretzky heaps praise on Marner and Matthews, makes Hall of Fame comparison

Whether you’re a Toronto Maple Leafs fan or not, you have to admit that the Leafs boast some of the best young forwards in the entire NHL. With players like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander still all under 22 years old, you’ll be hard pressed to find another team in the NHL with that much young skill on their roster. It’s a team that’s so full of promise that even The Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky, can’t help but stand up and take notice.

During a recent appearance on TSN 1050 radio in Toronto, Gretzky made some Hall of Fame comparisons regarding Matthews and Marner, likening them to himself and Mark Messier during their dynasty years with the Edmonton Oilers. How’s that sound, Leafs fans?

Check it out:

Sounds good to me!

Messier and Gretzky, of course, were two of the most dominant players of not only their generation, but all time. The pair won four Stanley Cups together with the Oilers during the 1980s and were easily the best one-two punch in the entire league during that decade. To our younger fans who weren’t lucky enough to witness this dynamic duo, they were to the Oilers essentially what Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are to Pittsburgh Penguins, but dialled all the way up to 11 on the Wow Factor meter.

Suffice it to say that Leafs fans would be absolutely ECSTATIC if Matthews and Marner were to experience even half the success in Toronto that Gretzky and Messier experienced together in Edmonton.