from James Tanner of Editor In Leaf,

Cup or Bust

The Leafs have been slowly rebuilding for the last five years, and now all of that patience is coming to fruition.

The Leafs three best young players – Auston Matthews, WIlliam Nylander and Mitch Marner – are all entering their fourth full season of NHL hockey.

The three of them are all due to peak and have their career year. It doesn’t always happen that way, but around 23 is when most elite players have their best year.

There is also the fact that Tavares hasn’t yet started to decline. He stands to be a great player for years, but at 28 he is the age when most players begin to feel the first signs of decline.

As a superstar player, Tavares’ age curve promises to be a gentle one, but still, it is a reasonable bet, when looking at their respective ages, to say that Tavares and Matthews as a combo will never be better than they are going to be this year.

As if that wasn’t enough good news, the Leafs – if their players all live up to their previous years – have a crazy number of first-line quality players.

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