2019 NHL Stanley Cup Favourite #6

[TK 421]

Well the systematic underrating of Tavares since he's joined the Leafs will do that. not to mention the sheer ignorance of HF regarding how Bozak and JVR were used by the team. Their line had to be constantly sheltered, neither player was known for being tenacious or gritty. Soft is how they were often described.

That the Leafs now have three lines they can roll out at any given moment and have a chance to score is huge. If you don't see how adding the best free agent available since Chara is a big upgrade I don't know what to tell ya.



Yeah, adding an elite #1 centre is a much smaller net gain than a team adding multiple 2nd line centres.



Well he played last year and helped a ton if you had been paying attention. The only accurate part of your post is the last sentence, so good job.

Tavares, Kapanen and Johnsson in and JVR, Bozak out might still be a net gain for the Leafs but not to the degree you're suggesting imo.

In regards to comparing off-season gains between the Leafs and Blues I don't see much of a comparison tbh. The difference is you're suggesting adding Tavares and a couple of younger forwards in Kapanen and Johnsson is a bigger gain than the Blues adding O'Reilly, Fabbri, Thomas, Perron, Bozak and Maroon.

Every one of those last 3 players is an upgrade statistically on last year's 3rd line which admittedly was god awful. O'Reilly is a huge upgrade on Stastny. Fabbri was a top 6 forward prior to his injuries and is far more proven than either Kapanen or Johnsson. We'll see where he's at coming back post injury but that's a huge add back into the forward group. Thomas was a Memorial Cup MVP candidate that we might not even have room for in our top 9 now. So excuse me but I have a hard time seeing how your 3 guys will add up to a bigger net gain than the 6 guys the Blues are adding especially when JVR supplied 30+ goals for you last year.

In regards to Dermott, I'm a big fan of him and I'm aware of the immediate impact he had. I think there's another level within his reach this year hence why I'm curious to see how much more he can provide compared to his contribution last season.

 

[Puckstuff]

I vote Leafs; so it should be tied 37 votes to 37 votes!!

Maple Leafs>Bruins
Raptors>Celtics
Blue Jays < Red Sox

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Close one. As it should be. Bruins were better last year and their younger players should improve. Leafs added Tavares and lost some good pieces but should expect improvement from younger players as well. I think either choice is defensible.