TORONTO - Craig Berube heard the term over and over last season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs bench boss came to town knowing a quartet of star forwards would continue to be a constant focus — even after years of playoff failure.

Another disappointing spring was followed by a seismic summer. With one of those talismanic talents now gone after a dramatic exit, Berube joked there's at least one positive losing a 103-point player from his lineup.

"It's a little bit of a change," he said at the start of training camp. "What excites me is I don't have to hear 'Core Four' anymore."

That moniker used to describe the talented, high-paid and, when it mattered most, ultimately underachieving quartet of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares has been shelved following a long

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