Are Matthews, Marner & Bunting the best line in hockey?

In the last month and a half, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Michael Bunting have combined for 39 goals in 17 games. Where does the Maple Leafs top line rank among the NHL's best?

Video Transcript

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OMAR: Hey, everyone, welcome back to another episode of "In The Mentions." I'm TicTacTOmar. And it looks like the Leafs top line of Michael Bunting, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner might be the best line in hockey right now. I mean, you might have Colorado Avalanche fans that'll argue that their top line of Burakovsky, MacKinnon, and Rantanen is the best line. They're probably right. So how about second best?

But all kidding aside, I mean, the synergy that these three players have, it looks like they've been playing together for years. Granted, Matthews and Marner have been playing together for a little bit. But Michael Bunting just joined the team, and it seems like he's already figured out the best way to make use of his skill set.

And I think Saturday's game was actually a pretty good indicator of how well they could be together. Mitch Marner has 6 points. Michael Bunting has 5. Auston Matthews has 4. And even though the game kind of went a little crazy and the Leafs scored a lot of goals, actually a number of goals that hasn't been seen since their logo was this, but it's still a very interesting game nonetheless.

And, again, I think when it comes to this line-- and besides just the goal scoring, the fact that they generate a lot of pressure right off the bat. And not even Saturday-- even the recent game against Washington, they controlled a lot of the play, a lot of the pace. I think Matthews is really stepping up as an overall 200-foot player and really doing the little things that are allowing Marner and Bunting to kind of do their thing. And, again, Mitch Marner is just Mitch Marner, making ridiculous passes out of nowhere.

And to be honest, it's getting to the point now where I think Sheldon Keefe looks at those three any time the Leafs need an answer and just throws them out. And I think 9 times out of 10, they're gonna give them some type of response. So can this keep up? I think so. I think on the bright side of what Michael Bunting is doing, I think he's making a lot of people forget about Zach Hyman. Again, not to say that Zach Hyman's a bad player, but Michael Bunting makes $900,000 this year and next year. That's pretty sick, if you ask me.