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This is what happens when you sign John Tavares as a free agent and everyone declares you a Stanley Cup favourite — in July.

This is what happens when you start the year with six wins in the first seven games and you get compared to the 1980s Edmonton Oilers.

This is what happens when Tavares scores six goals in the first four games, when defenceman Morgan Rielly gets nicknamed “Mo (Bobby) Orr,” and when people start questioning whether Matthews has passed Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby as the best player in the world.

As Nazem Kadri said: “I’m sure they’re sick of hearing everything about the Leafs.”

“Sick” might not be strong enough of a word.

Forget the Capitals and Golden Knights, who reached the Cup final last year, or the Lightning, Penguins, Predators and Jets — it’s the Leafs who are in everyone’s crosshairs this year. And unless Toronto gets used to it, there are going to be more nights like the ones against Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

“Everyone’s bringing their best game, because we are a good team,” said goalie Frederik Andersen. “You want to be one of those top teams, where it kind of opens guys’ eyes a little bit (when they play you). But it comes with a lot of expectations.”

This is a new for the Leafs, who haven’t won a playoff round since 2004 and were in a perpetual state of rebuild for the better part of the last decade. They aren’t used to being the favourite, unless it was followed by the words “whipping boy.”

Two years ago, the Leafs caught the NHL by surprise when they qualified for a playoff spot on the final day of the season. A year later, Toronto was still considered ahead of schedule when it finished with the third-most points in the Eastern Conference.