Young Leafs can learn from NHL greats

Think of this part of the schedule as a free Hall of Fame preview for the youngest players on the Maple Leafs.

In the space of seven games, going back to Saturday’s loss to Washington, the Leafs are up close and personal with Alex Ovechkin, the Flames’ Jaromir Jagr on Tuesday, the “generational player” Connor McDavid two nights later, wrapping their road trip against the Sedin Twins in Vancouver.

Next week, it’s Jagr and McDavid again at the Air Canada Centre, sandwiching a test against Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh.

For Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and others, there has to be some valuable lessons to be learned while seeing so many greats in the heat of National Hockey League battle.

“Those kind of challenges are the best thing for a person, individually, and as a team,’ said former goaltender and Hockey Night In Canada analyst Kelly Hrudey while watching the Leafs and Flames practise on Tuesday.

“I know I always looked forward to them more so than a game against a team that didn’t really have the stars.

“Those meetings get you excited about the game again.”

Lord knows the Leafs of the post-2004-05 lockout years have seen a slew of stars come into the Air Canada Centre and carry their team on their backs, bark commands, direct traffic or deal with officials.

Crosby and Ovechkin (who scored a hat trick against Toronto the other night) lit up the Leafs and now Toronto, having finally committed to a draft rebuild, has Matthews and the others starting their second full seasons.

“You watch Crosby and think: ‘What can I learn from him?’ ” Hrudey said.

“Not only what he does with his creativity, but how he prepares.”

That’s one of the reasons the Flames extended a contract to the 45-yearold Jagr. First-line forward Sean Monahan directed reporters’ attention to Jagr’s cramped locker with its collection of fitness gear, such as ankle weights.

“Everyone has a different way of preparing and it’s cool to see, especially at his age, someone you can look up to,” forward Monahan said.

“He’s always paying attention to little details. Look, he’s got 10 pairs of skates.

“He obviously has a lot of passion for the game. Just talking to him in practices and stuff, he’s always trying to get better.”

The Leafs already took a leap of faith in Patrick Marleau.

At 37, there was concern the Leafs had overpaid or were jumping the gun on their patience plan.

But Marleau is scoring, including a team-best four game-winning goals and leading by example in other areas not always detected by the TV camera.