Daily Free Talk / Armchair GM Thread

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[u/Minimum_One_2195]

People love calling Tavares washed. I’ve heard it to start the season for probably the past 3 years, and then he picks it up later in the season and ends up with 30 goals and 70+ points. You are not putting those numbers on the 3rd line, and you are not upgrading on those numbers with anybody out there that’s available right now.

He’s 36, so maybe he does take a step back but he’s got 2 points in 3 games and has had chances to put in a couple of goals. I don’t know why Tavares is blamed as THE defensive liability when you have Willy and McKenna on that line turning it over every 2nd possession.

It just baffles me who people will make the scapegoat every season despite Tavares not having 1 bad season since coming to Toronto.

[u/Loud_Sentence_1481 → u/Minimum_One_2195]

I think they should try him on Matthews wing with Marchenko

[u/Ok_Elevator4215 → u/Minimum_One_2195]

Your point about him having 2 points in 3 games should tell you exactly why looking at point totals is just not a good way to go about it. Tavares has not been good. You can think he's going to get better, that's fine, but there's just no conceivable way you can watch these games, see him unable to handle a pass or the puck in general, kill every play that touches his stick and say he hasn't been bad to start the year.

And I don't think people are blaming tavares as THE defensive liability. Every issue I see raised with the second line is that all of them suck defensively. That's the whole reason people are upset this line keeps getting played, it obviously doesn't work when they all can't play defence.

Also, just so were clear, although the stat is just really flawed, JT has more giveaways than Nylander and Mckenna. Plus you can watch pretty much every time he receives a pass in transition, he loses possession almost instantly. Tavares is pretty clearly the one contributing most to the changes in possession on the wrong end.

[u/rdawg1234 → u/Minimum_One_2195]

I trust he can bounce back as speed was never his thing but age is going to be a factor with him going forward.

I don’t trust that Rielly and Willy will all of a sudden improve their defence in their 30s, so when you have all of those guys on the ice together, it’s likely not going to go well defensively, personally I don’t think it works as a net positive.

McKenna just needs more time, not concerned at all about him

[u/Exact-Appointment510 → u/Minimum_One_2195]

I say it weekly. Over the past 2 seasons, he is 16th for ALL centers in the NHL in Points and 7th in faceoff percentage. He is also not as slow as a people think - above 70th percentile for max skating speed.

I would take that as my second center any day. Is he older? I guess so but he takes good care of himself and doesn't show that he's "washed". All to say that I don't think our 2nd center is a big concern and, unless he ages 10 years in a day, I don't think we need to be concerned about that this season.

[u/Ok_Elevator4215 → u/Exact-Appointment510]

He looks like he's aged 10 years the day the season started. Hope he gets better but we can't reasonably expect him to be a 2C for much longer without a backup plan.

[u/StatGAF → u/Minimum_One_2195]

What baffles me is when people make stuff up about "Tavares being a slow starter".

Tavares is typically a strong starter for his career. He averages 1.17 PPG in October. .9 in November, .81 in December. His worst month tends to be January at .68 PPG before he picks it back up.

Last year, his best month was October. In 2024, he had over a PPG in October. In 2023, he had over a point per game in October.

If anything, Tavares is a strong starter, has a slow middle, but picks it up at the end.

Tavares is 36. Given that Willy and McKenna are on that line, he needs to be the defensively responsible one. He's not being made a scapegoat but that line is being crushed in 3 games.

Its early but you can't close your eyes either and pretend that it doesnt exist.

[u/oh5canada5eh → u/StatGAF]

Maybe the issue is saying that Tavares needs to be the defensively responsible one when you are saddling him with a genuinely bad defensive player in Nylander and a rookie who has been all-offense up to this point in his journey.

If the line is being crushed in their zone it isn’t Tavares’ fault, but the fault of that combination of players. Coaches have to see that and adjust.

[u/Substantial-Read4372 → u/Minimum_One_2195]

You're not wrong. I think it's frustration that we know he will slow down at some point and we have literally no one within the organization who can fill that role when the decline does happen. He is being monitored closely from our fanbase due to that.

He also whiffed on several chances and has turned the puck over too. Seems, from the eye test, it's been his worst start to the season wearing a leaf jersey.

[u/WolverineCream → u/Minimum_One_2195]

He has more giveaways than the other two guys on his line and hasn't looked great, but I agree that it's too early and they'll get better as the season goes on.