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The consensus on the Maple Leafs: They can’t win the Stanley Cup with that defence.

The consensus may be wrong.

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Truth is, you can win with this defence. The Pittsburgh Penguins did that two years ago, winning the Cup with a defence less capable than the current Leafs crew. The Washington Capitals won the Cup last June with a top half that may be stronger than the Leafs’ top half, but overall, the defencemen on both teams are rather similar.

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The NHL is changing. The game is changing.

“You’re not seeing anybody standing in front of his net, cross-checking anybody anymore,” said Ron Hainsey, who was part of the Pittsburgh Cup-winning blue line in 2017 and now works the first pairing on defence for the Leafs alongside Morgan Rielly. “It’s a different game.

“I like what we’ve got. We’ve got the two 50-point guys (Rielly and Jake Gardiner). How many teams have that? (Answer: Two other teams, Minnesota and Nashville). That takes care of the offence and the power-play. And I think Z (Nikita Zaitsev) can play that game, also.”