Mate, this is delusion. Starting lineup October 2022:
#58 Michael Bunting – #34 Auston Matthews – #16 Mitch Marner
#88 William Nylander – #91 John Tavares – #62 Denis Malgin
#47 Pierre Engvall – #15 Alex Kerfoot – #19 Calle Järnkrok
#12 Zach Aston-Reese – #64 David Kampf – #96 Nicolas Aubé-Kubel
ZAR and NAK aren't even in the NHL anymore, Malgin was in our top six. Engvall is a vanilla nothing player.
The team wasn't better on paper but I think this current lineup (23-24) is much more miscast.
Kampf did better with ZAR and NAK than he does with Gregor and Reaves.
Although he was an offensive black hole, Kerfoot was a better 3C than we've rolled out this year.
Bunting did better than any of Bertuzzi, Domi, or Knies with M&M. Malgin is the glaring weak spot.
The current set of forwards
should be better but currently they aren't. They need a real 3C, Reaves needs to start sitting at least some games, and Bertuzzi and Domi need some consistency with linemates.
Its very likely Matthews and Marner need to be split up. Bertuzzi would probably find chemistry on a line of Tavares and Marner, while Knies or Domi would do well with Matthews and Nylander imo. Unfortunately Keefe absolutely refuses to try something new with M&M.
Treliving handed Keefe an incomplete lineup, and Keefe has done an atrocious job with what he does have.
Worst of all, the change to the core four that many of us have wanted is probably going to be Nylander walking for nothing.
