3 Reasons why Toronto Maple Leafs will win the Stanley Cup this year

No. 2: Mitch Marner and John Tavares: Contract Year

There is a real possibility that this is the last season that Mitch Marner and John Tavares are members of the Toronto Maple Leafs and that fire is going to drive them to their best seasons yet.

I know that the Leafs didn't have huge success with Auston Matthews and William Nylander entering their contract year last season, but both players did have their best individual season of their career and the same thing will apply with Tavares and Marner. Last year, Matthews led the NHL with 69 goals, while Nylander registered 98 points for the first time in his career.

Marner and Tavares had a "down-year" for their standards last year, but that's going to change this year, as I would be shocked if Marner doesn't finish with a minimum of 35 goals and 110 points, while Tavares gets back to 80 points himself.

Since they're in a contract year, they need to prove to the organization and the rest of the league that they deserve another monster contract. Marner is coming off a $10.93M deal, while Tavares currrently makes $11M, so if they want to make anything close to what they did, they're going to have a crazy huge year and what better way of getting more money than to add a Stanley Cup to your resume?

I think that the core-four loves playing together, so since they know this could be the last time ever doing so, they're going to deliver in a big way.