Dallas Stars GM makes his feelings known on facing Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and $92,000,000 Maple Leafs star

Every team in the NHL would love to have just one of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, or William Nylander. The Toronto Maple Leafs have the luxury of all three stars.

Leafs fans can take their superstars for granted given the lack of playoff success in their time together. However, that doesn't make it any easier for opponents to handle the forwards, who are on contracts totaling $53 million, $65.4 million, and $92 million, respectively.

Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill appeared on "First Up" on TSN this morning and spoke about the Maple Leafs' top players ahead of their matchup on Tuesday:

"We know how his teams play, and they play the right way, and then that's going to pay off for them in the playoffs and that. And they play hard, they play smart, and they've got the skill level, you know, you look at their top two lines as much skill, they're high intelligence, as good as anybody.

"And the game in Dallas, we played a pretty small, pretty smart game, and in the end, made a couple mistakes, and their players don't need much to score, you know, the Nylanders the Matthews the Marners, those guys don't need, they need only one or two opportunities and it's in the net and that's what happened to us," Nill said.

Nill went on, explaining how the Leafs are improving and could be a real threat in the postseason:

"And so they're a challenge. You know, they're getting great goaltending this year, and Craig's got them playing the right way. They're playing hard play they're playing smart. And like I said, in the end, that's gonna pay dividends for them come playoff time."

Very complimentary words from a veteran general manager with 482 career wins under his belt.

Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander are all having productive seasons

As we all come to expect, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander have racked up the points again this season. Marner leads the bunch with 59 points (14 goals, 45 assists) in 44 games, Nylander has 44 points (24 goals, 20 assists) in 44 games, and despite missing time with injury, Matthews has 31 points (14 goals, 17 assists) in 29 games.

Toronto's top talent has never lacked production during the regular season. The problems have come in the playoffs. When the games get tighter and the offense is harder to come by, the Leafs need these three to come through in those moments.

The Maple Leafs and their three superstars are back in action on Tuesday night when they welcome the Dallas Stars to Scotiabank Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. EST.