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Around the League 2019-2025 Edition

They also had zero team success till they got those players. It's just a huge component to what makes their teams so hard to defend.
 
Forida doesn't really have a guy like Makar/Bouchard.

I’d love to get a guy like Dobson or whatever, but the top end D doesn’t necessarily have to be an offensive superstar. At one point Rielly was that and it wasn’t enough either.
 
leafman101 said:
Forida doesn't really have a guy like Makar/Bouchard.

I’d love to get a guy like Dobson or whatever, but the top end D doesn’t necessarily have to be an offensive superstar. At one point Rielly was that and it wasn’t enough either.
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Yeah I mean it's not mandatory (nothing is, playing copycat is a good way to fail) but it sure helps your generational forwards and top heavy lineup.

So what Florida does is play a completely different style than Edmonton. And it works. Leafs are trying to copy Florida but the game becomes much easier with a stud offensive d. They'd have more success leaning into their strengths if they got one.
 
leafman101 said:
Every team in the league would have more success if they added one of the best dmen in the league though.
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Of course. But that's not the point in this context (you can say that about one of the best forwards in the league too but the impact isn't nearly the same). The point is that it explains much of their forwards offensive deficiencies. Mcdavids numbers with Bouchard and chance generation is quite frankly obscene. Same with Nate with Makar.
 
Like even if you swap Marner for Bouchard, I guarantee they become better offensively. More unpredictable, harder to defend, etc. As long as you get him on the ice with Matthews as much as possible, they become a different team.
 
leafman101 said:
Forida doesn't really have a guy like Makar/Bouchard.

I’d love to get a guy like Dobson or whatever, but the top end D doesn’t necessarily have to be an offensive superstar. At one point Rielly was that and it wasn’t enough either.
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Ekblad, Jones and Forsling do provide a decent transition game though.
 
Yeah, just like having an elite C, you can get away with dividing the job amongst a handful of guys who are above average for the role instead. But it's probably better having a Makar than it is splitting that between a Montour and a Forsling
 
It's important for all teams but I feel it's the best way to maximize your horses up front. Florida isn't really top heavy like Edmonton or Colorado so they have less of a need for an offensive stud back there to get a barkov putting up superman numbers (they get balanced scoring throughout their lineup). They have lovely puck movers and they absolutely need those guys, but it's different than a top heavy lineup having huge need for a Makar or a poor man's Makar.

I mean it's the one thing the leafs haven't really surrounded their core with and no team built like the leafs up front really wins without a dude like that. Granted, Pittsburgh was a unicorn in that regard when they won with Letang out, but no one since or even before that in the modern era.
 
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