Quoting: Reason
Not blatantly ignoring KK at all. Look at teams that have won the cup over the last 7 years, all but one have had legimiate 1-2 pounches. MacKinnon - Kadri, Stamkos - Point, Kuznetsov - Backstrom, Crosby - Malkin. I'm not saying Horvat is on the level of these #2's, but he is significantly closer to that level than KK is.
Alright, what do you think a legitimate 1-2 punch is? Because from what I am seeing from your comment, I am thinking that your definition of a “legitimate 1-2 punch” in this situation is to have 2 superstars/stars playing 1-2C. I’m not criticizing you, I am just curious as to what you would call it.
As for the Canes, the Canes are a completely different monster than all the teams you said have a legitimate 1-2 punch. The Canes value depth and balance above all else. They dont have that game changing superstar outside of Slavin, Aho, and Svechnikov, although there are extremely high hopes for Morrow, Kochetkov, and Trikozov. All of the C the Canes have right now are C who are good in the dot, but above everything else, are really good defensively. The Canes system is based on an elite 2-way transition game, and they have only just started to break that trend with the acquisition of Patches. So centers like Sheifele or Dubois, and certain other C, really wouldn’t fit the system the Canes employ. So unless the Canes are going after players like Barkov or ROR, the Cames are unlikely to have that 1-2 punch you are speaking of.