In the lead-up to this Maple Leafs season, a lot was made of a new dynamic set up by the departure of Mitch Marner.

“It changes the culture” is how MLSE CEO Keith Pelley put it. “So now you no longer have Core Four. Now you have the opportunity to showcase all these players. It’s a team.”

A quick look at the team’s stats page doesn’t exactly reinforce that case. Marner, who led the Leafs with 102 points last season, is no longer around. What feels awfully familiar is that Toronto’s four highest-paid forwards are its four leading point-getters by a considerable margin. Matthew Knies, in the first year of a deal that pays him $7.75 million (U.S.) a season, is now a member of that top group.

Don’t get it wrong. Things have changed. The Core Four is no more, and at long last there ar

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