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The question was simple and straightforward. But Mike Babcock wasn’t having any of it.

When asked if the secret to success against the Boston Bruins is making sure Auston Matthews and John Tavares outplay Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, the Maple Leafs head coach ignored the premise that a team is only as good as its top two centres and instead started to talk about depth.

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Without naming names, he started talking about the importance of Nazem Kadri.

“Often what happens is those guys cancel each other out and it’s the rest of the guys that matter,” said Babcock. “So the more depth you have, the better off you are. There is no question, I have been in a lot of playoff series where your stars had no points after the first round, hardly any after two rounds, but by the end they were leading your team in scoring. But the other guys got them through. That’s what depth on a team is all about.”

Depth, a perceived area of strength for a team that had seven 20-goal scorers, has not exactly worked according to plan this season.