Darwin Nunez, who has been heavily linked with a move from Benfica, has the highest valuation (£59.9m) for players outside of Europe's top five leagues.
Center depth is something that has been part of the DNA of some of the NHL's most recently succe sful teams.
The 2018 Stanley Cup champion Capitals ran out Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom down the middle (while Lars Eller as the 3C more than proved his worth in the postseason). The Penguins have won three Stanley Cups behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, while dre sing guys behind them like Nick Bonino or Derrick Bra sard.
The Predators have Martin Prado Jersey Ryan Johansen, Kyle Turris,and Bonino, and the Jets had Mark Scheifele, Paul Stastny and Bryan Little last season.
On July 1, theMaple Leafs opened free agency with a bang, . In doing so, Toronto's already solid center depth transformedintoan upper-echeloncaliber so common on contending teams.
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Because when the puck drops for the 2018-19 season, the Maple Leafs middle of the depth chart (barring any subsequent moves this summer)will feature Tavares, Auston Matthewsand Nazem Kadri. Which isn't too shabby.
The inclusion of Tavares in their lineup leaves the Maple Leafs in a great spot. But where Tavares specifically fits into the lineup is totally up for debate and will be a topic of conversation throughout training camp, and even once the regular season begins.
The Maple Leafs' de facto "top line" last year featured, from left to right: Zach Hyman, Matthews and William Nylander. (Somewhat related: it seems highly unlikely thisis the season the Leafs experiment with moving Nylander off the wing.)
Head coach Mike Babcock already hinted at a change and how he might choose to initially shuffle his deck, telling reporters he pictured Patrick Marleaujumping onto Matthews' line opposite Nylander, with Hyman sliding down to play with Tavares and Match Marner.
If things really shake up in that form, here's what Toronto's line could look Sandy Alcantara Jersey like:
Patrick Marleau Auston Matthews William Nylander
Zach Hyman John Tavares Mitch Marner
Andreas John sonNazem KadriKasperi Kapanen
Josh LeivoPar LindholmConnor Brown
But for the sake ofcontinuity (and dreaming up different scenarios) let's keep that Matthews line with Hyman and and Nylander intact.Tavares, from a usage and "depth chart" perspective, would slot in right after that. From a talent, name value perspective, Marleau on the left and Marner on the right would make a lot of sense. Not to mention, the speed and puck skills from a player like Marner could help create extra room for Tavares, while Marleau po se ses some of the attributes of Anders Lee, Tavares' recent Islanders linemate whom he lifted to a career-high 40 Starlin Castro Jersey goals in 2017-18.
SPORER:
If that's how Babcock constructed his top six, Kadri would slide into the 3C role, and the forward group might look something like this:
Zach HymanAuston Matthews William Nylander
Patrick MarleauJohn Tavares Mitch Marner
Andreas John sonNazem KadriKasperi Kapanen
Josh LeivoPar LindholmConnor Brown
In the past, Babcock has shown, to some degree, to value balance throughout the lineup. Even after brining in Marleau on a three-year, $18 million contract last summer,he kept Hyman on the top line on Matthews' wing, instead playing Marleau with Kadri. And that was , and also gave Babcock a hard-match option to help make things a bit easier on Matthews at times.
MORE:
So let's keep Marleau and Kadri together, but move Marner onto Tavares' line. Babcock could maybe roll with something like this:
Zach HymanAuston Matthews William Nylander
Andreas John sonJohn Tavares Mitch Marner
Patrick MarleauNazem KadriConnor Brown
Josh LeivoPar LindholmKasperi Kapanen
Would Babcock consider not touching that Kadri line at all, leaving that and Matthews' unit with his running mates intact? Babcock has been pretty high on Kapanen he after Kapanen was recalled from the AHL early in 2018 and John son also looked very effective in the postseason, scoring a key goal in their first-round series against theBruins and buzzing around the ice (he also potted two in nine regular season games down the stretch). John son went back to the AHL and put up 10 goals and 24 points in 16 playoff games to lead the Marlies to a Calder Cup, very much not looking the part of a minor league forward.
This configurationwould strap Tavares with two rockets on either wing, a line that Babcock could throttle with offensive zone starts to leave Kadri and Marleau to do more of the defensive zone lifting (the same could really be said of a line of John son/Tavares/Marner).
The Leafs have given Babcock a wealth of tools, and now it's on him to figure out how to get the most out of Trevor Richards Jersey all this talent.
Related Articles NHL free agency winners, losers: John Tavares, Maple Leafs take Cup leap; Islanders left in dust
Center depth is something that has been part of the DNA of some of the NHL's most recently succe sful teams.
The 2018 Stanley Cup champion Capitals ran out Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom down the middle (while Lars Eller as the 3C more than proved his worth in the postseason). The Penguins have won three Stanley Cups behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, while dre sing guys behind them like Nick Bonino or Derrick Bra sard.
The Predators have Martin Prado Jersey Ryan Johansen, Kyle Turris,and Bonino, and the Jets had Mark Scheifele, Paul Stastny and Bryan Little last season.
On July 1, theMaple Leafs opened free agency with a bang, . In doing so, Toronto's already solid center depth transformedintoan upper-echeloncaliber so common on contending teams.
MORE:
Because when the puck drops for the 2018-19 season, the Maple Leafs middle of the depth chart (barring any subsequent moves this summer)will feature Tavares, Auston Matthewsand Nazem Kadri. Which isn't too shabby.
The inclusion of Tavares in their lineup leaves the Maple Leafs in a great spot. But where Tavares specifically fits into the lineup is totally up for debate and will be a topic of conversation throughout training camp, and even once the regular season begins.
The Maple Leafs' de facto "top line" last year featured, from left to right: Zach Hyman, Matthews and William Nylander. (Somewhat related: it seems highly unlikely thisis the season the Leafs experiment with moving Nylander off the wing.)
Head coach Mike Babcock already hinted at a change and how he might choose to initially shuffle his deck, telling reporters he pictured Patrick Marleaujumping onto Matthews' line opposite Nylander, with Hyman sliding down to play with Tavares and Match Marner.
If things really shake up in that form, here's what Toronto's line could look Sandy Alcantara Jersey like:
Patrick Marleau Auston Matthews William Nylander
Zach Hyman John Tavares Mitch Marner
Andreas John sonNazem KadriKasperi Kapanen
Josh LeivoPar LindholmConnor Brown
But for the sake ofcontinuity (and dreaming up different scenarios) let's keep that Matthews line with Hyman and and Nylander intact.Tavares, from a usage and "depth chart" perspective, would slot in right after that. From a talent, name value perspective, Marleau on the left and Marner on the right would make a lot of sense. Not to mention, the speed and puck skills from a player like Marner could help create extra room for Tavares, while Marleau po se ses some of the attributes of Anders Lee, Tavares' recent Islanders linemate whom he lifted to a career-high 40 Starlin Castro Jersey goals in 2017-18.
SPORER:
If that's how Babcock constructed his top six, Kadri would slide into the 3C role, and the forward group might look something like this:
Zach HymanAuston Matthews William Nylander
Patrick MarleauJohn Tavares Mitch Marner
Andreas John sonNazem KadriKasperi Kapanen
Josh LeivoPar LindholmConnor Brown
In the past, Babcock has shown, to some degree, to value balance throughout the lineup. Even after brining in Marleau on a three-year, $18 million contract last summer,he kept Hyman on the top line on Matthews' wing, instead playing Marleau with Kadri. And that was , and also gave Babcock a hard-match option to help make things a bit easier on Matthews at times.
MORE:
So let's keep Marleau and Kadri together, but move Marner onto Tavares' line. Babcock could maybe roll with something like this:
Zach HymanAuston Matthews William Nylander
Andreas John sonJohn Tavares Mitch Marner
Patrick MarleauNazem KadriConnor Brown
Josh LeivoPar LindholmKasperi Kapanen
Would Babcock consider not touching that Kadri line at all, leaving that and Matthews' unit with his running mates intact? Babcock has been pretty high on Kapanen he after Kapanen was recalled from the AHL early in 2018 and John son also looked very effective in the postseason, scoring a key goal in their first-round series against theBruins and buzzing around the ice (he also potted two in nine regular season games down the stretch). John son went back to the AHL and put up 10 goals and 24 points in 16 playoff games to lead the Marlies to a Calder Cup, very much not looking the part of a minor league forward.
This configurationwould strap Tavares with two rockets on either wing, a line that Babcock could throttle with offensive zone starts to leave Kadri and Marleau to do more of the defensive zone lifting (the same could really be said of a line of John son/Tavares/Marner).
The Leafs have given Babcock a wealth of tools, and now it's on him to figure out how to get the most out of Trevor Richards Jersey all this talent.
Related Articles NHL free agency winners, losers: John Tavares, Maple Leafs take Cup leap; Islanders left in dust