What if the team hadn’t signed John Tavares to an eight\u002Dyear contract that carried an $11\u002Dmillion cap hit?
That depends on how much importance you put on having two No. 1 centres in your lineup.
At the time, the Leafs were hoping that having Matthews and Tavares, as well as Kadri, down the middle would give them the best centre depth in the league. That depth has been depleted since then. But in Matthews and Tavares, the team still has two legitimate No. 1 centres. And to think, the question heading into this season was whether Tavares, who is 32 years old, had passed his prime. No one is thinking that now. Not with Tavares on pace for 43 goals and 91 points.
It’s part of the reason why Keefe has been juggling the lines more and more these days. Sometimes it is to break a winger out of a slump, as was the case with moving Marner to Tavares’ line earlier this month. Sometimes, like when Marner moved back to Matthews’ line against Pittsburgh, it’s to protect a line against a lopsided match-up.
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