Weekly Takes - Monday, February 27th Edition

Weekly Takes - Monday, February 27th Edition

1. My three stars from the Maple Leafs dominant win over the Sabres on Tuesday…

1. Mitch Marner

2. Ryan O’Reilly

3. John Tavares

Maybe “the passion line” will be the play after all, rather than playing O’Reilly on the third line.

A dominant performance from the trio, highlighted by Marner, who may have played the best game of his career.

2. My three stars from the Leafs blowout win over the Kraken on Sunday…

1. Ilya Samsonov

2. Auston Matthews

3. Timothy Liljegren

The Leafs came out awful for the first five minutes before Samsonov made a five-star save to keep the game from being 2-0.

His best performance of the season.

3. People can write off Patrick Kane if they wish, but there is no substitute for having a player on your roster who, when the lights are shining the brightest, thrives time and time again.

The Rangers are a true Cup contender.

4. The Devils are also a true Cup contender after landing Timo Meier, more so given how underwhelming the return is for the Sharks.

A home run trade by Tom Fitzgerald.

5. Tanner Jeannot, quite likely, is not as good as he was last season or as bad as he has been this season.

But he is certainly not worth the price Tampa Bay paid to get him.

With that being said, they are a better team today than they were yesterday. That may very well be all that matters to a team who only has a couple of more years left in them.

6. With an arms race unfolding in the stacked Eastern Conference, there is not another team in hockey that has more pressure on them to make a trade this week than the Hurricanes.

They need to add a star forward up front to keep up with the Bruins, Leafs, Rangers, Lightning, and Devils.

7. Toronto FC’s opening night loss to DC United on Saturday was every “worst-case scenario” being checked off.

An injury to Lozerno Insgine, a slow-looking midfield, and a backline that collapsed in the dying moments of the match.

The heat is on for Bob Bradley and ‘co.