It's not about Tavares. Yes, with him in the lineup they would likely eliminate us. But it is is not a team to go far in the playoffs. They are just flawed on too many levels and don't have the room to maneuver in order to change their make up significantly.
Observing Dubas at work has been a joy for me as a Habs fan. I expected a decade of frustration facing them on a regular basis. Now I'm convinced they screwed up their rebuild and are going nowhere.
The Leafs went all in on offense. It's kind of important when your 2nd line becomes centered by Galchenyuk, so ya, it's about Tavares.
I think people are dumping on the Leafs a tad too much. Our strategy is to heavily rely on Price, if he gets injured we're toast. Leafs rely on offense, a big chunk was taken away when Tavares went out. It's significant.
Leafs aren't the Bolts where they can lose Stamkos and still win the cup.
It's not just Tavares either, their defense isn't deep so losing Muzzin really hurt them as well.
If Holl and Sandin take a step forward, that would be a big help, and then it's about tweaks.