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The Toronto Maple Leafs - often considered the Dallas Cowboys of the NHL - may have finally found the missing piece to their puzzle that has taken them so long to solve.
(Gavin Napier/Icon Sportswire)
The Leafs traded for St. Louis Blues Captain, Ryan O'Reilly, and already he has made an immediate impact in Toronto. O'Reilly scored a hat trick during the Leafs 6-3 route of the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Toronto has now put together a top 6 of Michael Bunting, Auston Matthews and William Nylander on the first line, with a new and seemingly deadly second line of John Tavares, Ryan O'Reilly and Mitch Marner.
Toronto hasn't won a Stanley Cup since 1967 and have not advanced past the first round since 2004. Leafs fans are hungry, and Toronto's front office isn't messing around this time. This new-look squad is scary, O'Reilly is buzzing early on in his Leafs tenure, and this looks like the year where they might finally make some noise in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Losing defenseman Jake Muzzin for the rest of the season due to spinal surgery is a huge blow to Toronto, so expect them to be active once more before the March 3rd trade deadline, as they will want to look to replace Muzzin with another impactful left handed defenseman.