Since then, not all has been perfect; he missed about a month with a back injury after sliding headfirst into the boards. But there is little question that Matthews is suited for professional hockey. Playing on a team that has its share of veterans and is coached by Marc Crawford, who won a Stanley Cup while coaching the Colorado Avalanche in 1996, Matthews has, with great effect, combined the copious tips he gets from his older teammates with his own instincts.

“I have nothing against college hockey or junior hockey,” Matthews said. “They produce tons and tons of really great players. But to have this opportunity — to live over here, to play in this league — it just seemed right.”

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Still, the decision to leave home and take up residence in a city known for its financial institutions, culture and, at least lately, early-morning arrests of soccer officials was not easy.

Matthews was born on Sept. 17, 1997, nearly two weeks later than his mother’s due date and two days after the Sept. 15 cutoff that would have made him eligible for the 2015 N.H.L. draft.

For most teenagers, that distinction would not have mattered much, but Matthews has shown a preternatural ability on the ice since he was a little boy, according to his mother, Ema. Early on, it became clear that professional hockey was his goal.

Matthews went to his first Coyotes game when he was 3 and “always had a stick in his hand,” Ema said, ultimately giving up his other sports love, baseball, to focus exclusively on hockey in middle school.