No real offense intended towards Justin DiBenedetto or Devin Didiomete, but I just find it's hard for a single player to really control play 5-on-5 anymore. Those guys just aren't Brett MacLean. But then when you add Wilson and Katic on the point, get Didiomete doing his thing down low, it's a much better opportunity for the line to function to its strengths. I think it's a situation that's very common in the OHL these past few seasons. A really good PP unit can really pile up the points with the frequency of minor penalty calls these days. And despite the somewhat slow start for Sarnia overall, I think the Stamkos line has generally been + or even so far.
I find Stamkos to really be paying attention (sometimes too much attention?) to watching his duties, to coming back, maybe not always taking the risks and chances that he could be. I've only seen 3 games, mind you.
That said, I've also been impressed with Tavares so far this year... with Clutterbuck gone, I guess it's natural that Tavares would start taking some more responsibility, and he's looking better in the faceoff circle and on the PK than I ever recall. It's a natural progression for a player to step up with such responsibilities as he gains seniority in the league, but it's still good to see that the progression is there with Tavares.