Tavares and Marner seem like a good fit together, but until they play, you just don't know for sure. They might clash, or just not be that strong of a pairing. Tavares has a long record of making decent players great, but maybe he isn't used to playing with a great player himself?
A good example is when the Blues brought in Gretzky - the NHL's greatest playmaker - to play with the NHL's best goal scorer in Hull. How did that work out? It didn't last very long, and it wasn't awful, but it wasn't even close to being Hull and Oates.
I hate to say it, as I hate the Leafs, but this makes them a whole lot closer to being an NHL contender. I still maintain that with that defence, they won't be. Don't tell me about "Pittsburgh did it" and so on - Pittsburgh is a veteran team with Crosby leading the way as a 2-way player. The Leafs are NOT Pittsburgh.
However, finding competent enough defencemen to make a good run at the cup will be easier than trying to find a franchise elite center.
Do I ever hate the Leafs. The amount of news about that franchise that is forced down our throats is nauseating enough already.
|