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/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.