Josh Tessler
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a lot better off with John Tavares on the roster.
It seems that Kyle Dubas has been watching the Pittsburgh Penguins for the last decade or so and understood that it takes three solid lines to win games. And that’s what he did. Dubas now has Auston Matthews, Tavares and Nazem Kadri running the show on Toronto’s top three lines.
Sure, the Maple Leafs don’t have a fourth line centre at this time, but that shouldn’t be a concern. Perhaps Par Lindholm plays extremely well in pre-season and earns the spot. Time will tell.
At the end of the day, the Maple Leafs are a Stanley Cup Contender for sure.
If you asked me whether they had a shot of winning, I’d have to say no. Not yet. If you look at the teams across the NHL that have gone to the Stanley Cup or the Conference Finals in recent seasons, they all had a great defensive core. I think in order for the Maple Leafs to truly be looked at the next Stanley Cup Champion, they need to upgrade their blue line.
This is the perfect time to do it. Grab an elite top 4 defenseman to pair with either Morgan Rielly or Jake Gardiner. Do that, and the Maple Leafs will be crowned champions next season.