The main reason Leafs fans are excited for the upcoming season is John Tavares.
The hometown superstar signed with Toronto in the summer and ever since he signed, people have been imagining who he's going to play with and what the Leafs' power play will look like.
On Thursday, we got some clarity from Mike Babcock as to what that top power play unit will look and where Tavares will be playing might surprise Leafs fans like it did Babcock.
“When we were recruiting Johnny I asked him what spot he wanted to play on the power play and he said, ‘net front,’ and that surprised me, to be honest with you,” admitted coach Mike Babcock. “I didn’t know that’s what he was going to say, because we were going to move (Auston Matthews) there.”
As per TSN's Mark Masters, Babcock had to change things up when Tavares surprised him by saying he wanted to be in front of the net on the power play.
Matthews will now be playing on the left flank of the top unit along with Mitch Marner, Nazem Kadri, Morgan Rielly, and Tavares. That is one scary power play unit and while the new role will be a change for Tavares, it won't be as big of an adjustment as you may think:
“I played a lot throughout the middle of the ice last year whether it was the front of the net or the high-slot area,” Tavares said. “I was around the net a lot more than maybe in years past. But even some of the units I played on in New York, we had a lot of guys being able to kind of rotate in and out of positions so maybe not always right in front of the net, but I’ve been around the net, kind of off to the side, some down-low areas. But in front, I wouldn’t say I’ve been assigned that role full-time in the past so it’s definitely an adjustment, but I like to think I can make it.”
The Leafs had the second-best power play unit in the NHL the last two seasons, so you have to think they will be better with Tavares and that's scary to say the least.
(H/T: Mark Masters, TSN.ca)
