Everyone is perpetually dissatisfied with the players the Leafs acquire. A lot of people are playing that game where they're worried about how they'll be dissatisfied later when the Leafs get someone. Which is a plan to be unhappy in my book. This sort of thing is very often a case of unreasonable expectations.

If you look back to when Mats Sundin was the 1C on the Leafs, the other centres in the NHL were big shots. Crosby, Malkin, Iginla, Datsyuk, Thornton, Zetterberg, Lecavalier, Spezza, Sedin, Getzlaf. Hall of Famers, some of them. Some of them, like Anze Kopitar, who had 32 goals in 2007-2008 are still in the game.

The thing is, you've had years to filter out the fact the top Cs in that year also included Mike Ribeiro, Derek Roy and Ollie Jokinen. The image you have in your mind is that a top centre is elite, and a 2C is too on a good team. The 3C is a very, very good player. And you know, maybe in 1988 that was true when there were only 21 teams, but it's not true now.

The NHL expanded successfully by importing European players, and they've kept at it recently by increasing number of Americans, but the pool isn't endless, and the elite players are few in number. If you watched Bob McKenzie's draft show, you heard a lot of prospects in the top 10 projecting at second-line centres. There aren't usually five or six of these guys every year, and they do require a very high pick. There aren't 64 very good to elite centres in the NHL every year.

This is the top three centres as listed by Daily Faceoff now, with all current unsigned UFAs (but not RFAs) removed. I did not research each team for injuries, however. This is what a 1C, a 2C or a 3C looks like.

Anaheim Ducks

Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras Ryan Poehling

Boston Bruins

Pavel Zacha, Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt

Buffalo Sabres

Josh Norris, Ryan McLeod, Jiri Kulich

Calgary Flames

Nazem Kadri, Mikael Backlund, Morgan Frost

Carolina Hurricanes

Sebastian Aho, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jordan Staal

Chicago Blackhawks

Frank Nazar, Jason Dickinson, Oliver Moore

Colorado Avalanche

Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Charlie Coyle

Columbus Blue Jackets

Sean Monahan, Adam Fantilli, Cole Sillinger

Dallas Stars

Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston, Sam Steel

Detroit Red Wings

Dylan Larkin, Marco Kasper, J.T. Compher

Edmonton Oilers

Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Adam Henrique

Florida Panthers

Alex Barkov, Anton Lundell, ???

Los Angeles Kings

Anze Kopitar, Quinton Byfield, Phillip Danault

Minnesota Wild

Marco Rossi, Joel Eriksson Ek, Ryan Hartman

Montréal Canadiens

Nick Suzuki, Jake Evans, Kirby Dach

Nashville Predators

Steven Stamkos, Ryan O'Reilly, Fedor Svechkov

New Jersey Devils

Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Cody Glass*

*not going to be QO'd

New York Islanders

Bo Horvat, Calum Ritchie, Jean-Gabriel Pageau

New York Rangers

Vincent Trocheck, J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad

Ottawa Senators

Tim Stützle, Dylan Cozens, Shane Pinto

Philadelphia Flyers

Sean Couturier, Noah Cates, Ryan Poehling Trevor Zegras

Pittsburgh Penguins

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Tommy Novak

San Jose Sharks

Maklin Celebrini, Alex Wennberg, Thomas Bordeleau

St. Louis Blues

Robert Thomas, Brayden Schenn, Oskar Sundqvist

Seattle Kraken

Matty Beniers, Chandler Stephenson, Shane Wright

Tampa Bay Lightning

Brayden Point, Nick Paul, Yanni Gourde

Toronto Maple Leafs

Auston Matthews, Max Domi, Scott Laughton

Utah Mammoth

Barrett Hayton, Logan Cooley, Jack McBain

Vancouver Canucks

Elias Pettersson, Filip Chytil, Teddy Blueger

Vegas Golden Knights

Jack Eichel, Tomas Hertl, William Karlsson

Washington Capitals

Dylan Strome, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Hendrix LaPierre

Winnipeg Jets

Mark Sheifele, Jonathan Toews, Vladislav Namestnikov

UFAs in order by points:

  • John Tavares
  • Mikael Granlund
  • Sam Bennett
  • Pius Suter
  • Jack Roslovic
  • Jeff Skinner (in theory, he's been a winger a lot more)
  • Gustav Nyquist (he may primarily play wing, I don't know)
  • Andrew Mangiapane
  • Adam Gaudette
  • Lars Eller
  • And some other marginal choices

Almost none of those centres still on teams are available in trade because almost no team wants to tank, and if you don't like the replacement options, why would they? When Luke Fox called John Tavares the runaway best centre available, he was not wrong. And looking over that list, some of the contracts that seemed wild overpays – Brock Nelson and Chandler Stephenson come to mind – make more sense now.

The only possible young acquisition is Marco Rossi, and how can the Leafs trade for his rights? With what? A signed Mitch Marner game-worn jersey? The only other obvious surplus guy is Charlie Coyle.

John Tavares looks like a must-sign this summer. He is absolutely a 2C. Even as he declines in ability. He's got a long way to fall before he's a 3C on most teams.

For whatever reason – maybe young players want the points you get on the wing, maybe they like the less structured game, there seems to be less centre depth overall, even if the top of this year's draft argues otherwise. Maybe it's that we look back and remember the top 10% and forget about all the duds that studded teams back in the day and it's always been like this.

Offseason