Sarah McLellan

azcentral sports

One of the most talented up-and-comers in hockey is a centerman – a 6-foot-1, 210-pound expert of the offensive zone.

He can organize rushes, deploy passes and bury pucks with ease and regularity into the narrow crevices around a goaltender. In scoring 55 times and amassing 117 points more than a year ago with USA Hockey’s under-18 squad, he surpassed National Hockey League superstar Patrick Kane’s program records for most goals and points in a single season.

But more than a model of skill, size and strength, this 18-year-old has an unwavering will on the ice to offer what NHL Central Scouting Director Dan Marr identifies as the “total package,” earning the department’s distinction as the top draft-eligible skater.

“He’s the real deal,” Marr said.

This player is expected to be called first at the NHL draft June 24, in Buffalo, the latest phase in an already extraordinary career that began not in a hockey hotbed such as Alberta or on a small Minnesota rink or in hockey-crazed Russia.

Auston Matthews is from Scottsdale.

“I’m just a normal kid I guess,” Matthews said. “You do what you can do, and you work hard and put your mind to something. I don’t think it matters if you’re from Arizona or Ontario. Anybody that plays in the NHL, you obviously put in countless hours of work and have the talent and motivation along with it. I don’t think it matters where you’re from.”

RELATED: Scottsdale's Matthews takes unconventional path to prepare for NHL

Making of a star

Born in San Francisco, Matthews moved with his family to the Valley as an infant and grew up in the Desert Ridge area. He attended his first Coyotes game when he was 3 years old – an experience he wouldn’t forget.

“He was more fascinated with the Zamboni and the remote-control balloons that flew around and dropped things from them,” said Matthews’ dad, Brian. “It was fun, but it obviously left an impression on him.”

When he was 5 years old, Matthews began playing hockey with Brian and his wife, Ema, having to bump back the C-section for their youngest daughter, Breyana, by an hour to accommodate Matthews’ first practice.

He represented the Jr. Coyotes and Bobcats, continually competing against older competition.

“Whenever there was ice time, he was there,” said Ron Filion, who coached Matthews when he was with the Bobcats. “It didn’t matter if it was a group three years younger than him or a group older than him. If he could get on the ice, he was on the ice.”

Matthews acquired a skating coach when he was 8 years old, working with Boris Dorozhenko three to six hours a week sometimes year-round. Dorozhenko, who’s from Ukraine, taught a nontraditional technique at the time that stressed control.

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“Auston is an extremely hard worker, and I will say his level of talent was increasing every year which was proportional to the effort he put in,” Dorozhenko said.

Hockey wasn’t the only sports Matthews participated in. He doubled as a baseball player, but after frequently missing Little League practices, his parents asked him to choose one sport.

“He was probably much better at baseball than hockey, (but) that’s not where his passion was,” Brian said. “He got so addicted to the fast pace of hockey, constantly moving and doing stuff and attacking and hitting.”

Watching the Coyotes, Matthews idolized Shane Doan and Daniel Briere, but once Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin entered the league, he began to record their games.

“He’s a student of the game,” Brian said. “He studies things somebody else does, something that he doesn’t know how to do or never seen done before. (If) he thinks it’s going to help his game, then he’s going to go work on it and try to add it in.”

Brian also helped out, drilling holes in a broken stick and attaching pucks for Matthews to stickhandle around in the family garage while Brian jabbed a stick into the action to challenge Matthews to make quick decisions against a stronger opponent.

“The garage has been repaired numerous times,” Brian said.

FROM 2014: Hockey prospect Auston Matthews burning up the ice in desert

A prized prospect

At 16, after getting discovered by a scout, Matthews moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., to join the U.S. National Team Development Program and he continued to flourish.

Aside from breaking Kane’s records in the 2014-15 season, Matthews won gold with the American team at the 2014 and 2015 U-18 World Championship and also captured bronze at the 2016 World Junior Championship while tying for the tournament lead in goals (seven).

It was during his time training in Michigan that Matthews began to emerge as the potential No. 1 pick in 2016, and the attention grew once he settled on an unconventional destination for his final season before becoming eligible for the draft.

Instead of starring in a junior-hockey league or choosing the college ranks, Matthews decided to further his skills in Switzerland’s top professional league.

And despite competing against men, Matthews thrived, scoring 24 goals and finishing with 46 points in 36 games with Zurich.

“He didn’t hold his own. He didn’t acquit himself well,” said Craig Button, TSN’s Director of Scouting and former general manager of the Calgary Flames. “He was a dominant player in the Swiss League and arguably the best player in the Swiss League as an 18-year-old, and I think that’s significant.”

After wrapping up in Switzerland, Matthews was the first to be named to the American squad for the IIHF World Championship in Russia – a tournament mostly comprised of established NHL players and European professionals – and he led the U.S. in goals (six) while tying for first in points (nine). He's also been included on Team North America's roster for the World Cup of Hockey, which will descend on Toronto in September.

But of all the places he’s been and will continue to go, Scottsdale is the one most prominently associated with Matthews. He’s been the poster boy for the growth the sport has experienced locally at the grassroots level.

During the 1996-97 season, the state featured 2,349 USA Hockey registered players. That number jumped to 7,329 for the 2014-15 campaign – an increase of 212 percent.

“Now with Auston coming from Arizona,” Marr said, “that’s going to help stimulate more interest in the game.”

RELATED: Scottsdale's Auston Matthews tops final NHL draft rankings

Going A to Z

Scottsdale is home. It’s where Matthews spends time with his parents and two sisters, goes swimming and stops at In-N-Out Burger for a Double-Double – sans onions. When he’s with his buddies, they browse Scottsdale Fashion Square or Scottsdale Quarter to check out Zara or Lululemon, said friend Michael Mahan, who's known Matthews for 14 years, before usually crowding around a plate of sushi for dinner.

“He’s very humble. Not a lot of this gets to him,” former teammate Matt Jones said. “I think he’s very prepared to be in the spotlight that he’s in right now. He hasn’t changed. He’s the same kid.”

Matthews wouldn’t be the first player with ties to Arizona to get drafted; Sean Couturier, who went eighth overall to the Flyers in 2011, was born in Phoenix before moving to New Brunswick. And Henrik Samuelsson, Zac Larraza, Brendan Burke and Austin Carroll are draftees who played in the Valley in their youth.

“There’s been other players from Arizona that have come through the draft here,” Marr said. “But there certainly hasn’t been a marquee player such as Auston Matthews.”

He would be the first to join the likes of Connor McDavid, Crosby and Ovechkin as a top pick after having the bulk of his minor-hockey league career rooted in the Valley; he’d also be only the seventh American to be drafted first overall.

“You want to get picked as high as possible,” Matthews said. “I think that’s how everybody looks at it.”

But getting selected is only the first step as Matthews, who will turn 19 Sept. 17, hopes to crack an NHL roster this fall and make a difference immediately.

Many believe he can.

“Right now, Auston Matthews is the player we think can step in and be an influence in games right away,” Marr said.

Not only would that be a dream come true for Matthews, but establishing himself as a household name in the NHL can be a point of pride for all of Arizona – the continuation of a legacy the local hockey community has already embraced as the foundation of where it all began for Matthews.

“Everything that’s led me to be here happened for a reason,” Matthews said. “So far it’s worked out. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but it’s definitely been quite a journey so far and I’m looking forward to the rest of it.”

Reach the reporter at sarah.mclellan@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8276. Follow her at twitter.com/azc_mclellan.