The Avalanche struggling without Cale Makar proves what the Maple Leafs never gave Auston Matthews

Colorado just proved that you can't be successful in the playoffs without a Cale Makar-level defender, but that's something Maple Leafs fans know all too well considering Auston Matthews never had help and it shows as quickly as your moment comes, it can swiftly go.

Down 2-0, the team looks like a shell of the Central Division winners and hasn't gotten a lot of support from names like Brock Nelson and Martin Necas.

But their biggest loss right now is undoubtedly defenceman Cale Makar. He's missed the first two games of the Conference Finals and it's shown on the ice. His ability to drive the game from the backend, use his blazing speed, creativity and offensive awareness to dictate the pace, then immediately pushback and defend with aplomb.

Without him, it may be all over for Colorado, but it just stresses the importance of who Makar is. He plays 25 minutes a night, does everything on the ice and beyond the insane talent level, clearly he brings the lineup together and makes things run a lot smoother.

While the team does have some pretty strong defenders alongside Makar like Devon Toews, Josh Manson, Sam Malinski and even a 40-year-old Brent Burns who is putting in a strong effort - can't even sniffs the level of Makar's dominance. He had 79 points this year, just came off back-to-back 90-point seasons and a point-per-game player in the playoffs. He's indispensable.

Guess we found out exactly why the Core Four era never found any real success.

Toronto never had a Makar to help dictate the pace and come through when it matters most. The best they had was Morgan Rielly and he wasn't exactly moving the needle nor was he strong defensively.

At one point there have been names like Dougie Hamilton or Alex Pietrangelo thrown around as potential game-changers on the blueline, Toronto never pulled the trigger and relied on a mishmash of young players and veterans to try and get them into the Cup Finals.

Hamilton has been linked to the Maple Leafs since Brad Treliving took over, meanwhile Pietrangelo had a lot of attention in 2020 and spoke with GM Kyle Dubas but with too much money involved, the team walked away even though he just won a Stanley Cup with St. Louis.

Who did you expect to pull the weight of someone like Makar besides Rielly? TJ Brodie? Justin Holl? Luke Schenn? The team has lacked a true producer since the Sundin era, and it's clear that without strong defending; playoffs are a hopeless cause.

It also led to Mitch Marner leaving, and a lot of tension with Auston Matthews. The Core Four era is dead and Toronto has no one to blame but themselves. Without giving the team the proper needle-mover on the blueline like Hamilton last season or Pietrangelo in 2020; they set themselves up to fail every single time.

There's a reason Makar makes so much money and is a perennial Norris contender - he offers everything a team needs at an elite level while also having a top tier clutch factor.

Toronto failed Auston Matthews and the rest of the team by not giving them a proper blueliner to facilitate things. It was truly their biggest downfall, and possibly the one that leads to Matthews leaving town for good.

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