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“I got a lot of questions about Lou, because he’s heard of Lou,” said Marc Crawford, who coached Matthews with the Zurich Lions this past season. “I shared with him the story that I had a chance to work with Lou around 2006 and didn’t do it because I was afraid of it. It was probably the worst mistake I ever made, because once I got to know Lou I realized just how nurturing a guy he is and how positive he is with the organization.

“There’s a 70% chance that he’s going to Canada. He knows that.”

While Matthews might not know a whole lot about Canada, our knowledge of the six-foot-two, 194-pound centre also is limited. He is considered the consensus No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, but it’s hard to know just how good he is because the 18-year-old spent his draft year playing in anonymity in Europe.

Is Matthews as good a No. 1 pick as Connor McDavid was in 2015? Is he better than Jack Eichel, last year’s No. 2 pick?

Is he even the best player available in a front-loaded draft that includes surging Finnish wingers Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujarvi?

“People don’t know how good he is because he wasn’t around to scrutinize all year,” said a scout for a Canadian team. “I think that’s a huge advantage for him. The team that gets him is going to be incredibly surprised just how good he is. I hear things like he would have gone third in last year’s draft. Are you kidding?

“No disrespect to Eichel, but he couldn’t carry Matthews’ skates to the rink. His impact in the NHL is going to be special.”