Muzzin gets early jump on potentially long campaign
Maple Leafs defenceman excited to be in Toronto from start of season this time
Jake Muzzin spent much of his first half-season in Toronto playing catch-up.
Now, he’s further ahead than many Maple Leafs in acclimatizing for what he hopes is a long run for the club through the spring of 2020.
The blue-liner and his trademark beard were among the first arrivals for informal summer skates this week at a west-end Toronto rink. After eight years with the Los Angeles Kings and much different late-summer scenery, Muzzin, his wife and baby daughter moved north a couple of weeks ago and he hit the ice with a group of mostly young Leafs and Marlies.
“You’d like to start ... from the start, with the team,” Muzzin said Monday. “It’s tough getting thrown into something, but that was part of the game. It’s definitely nice to be here now, settled in, and to go through the camp with the rest of the guys.”
The left-shooting Muzzin played mostly with the now-departed Nikita Zaitsev following the late-january deal that brought him over from the Kings. Projections for training camp in three weeks pair him with newcomer Cody Ceci. A regular partner and a greater grasp of the Leafs’ system should help in Muzzin’s last season under contract — he makes US$4 million this year — before entering unrestricted free agency.
“I won’t have to be thinking in practice like a mad man,” Muzzin said with a laugh. “It will be nice to know some of the drills and know what the coaches want. That way, you can just go and play.”
Ceci, Tyson Barrie, Ben Harpur and Jordan Schmaltz have joined Toronto’s defence with Zaitsev, Calle Rosen and Ron Hainsey gone, Jake Gardiner a free agent and Travis Dermott questionable at camp after shoulder surgery.
BIGGER SAM-PLE SIZE
First order of business for some of the young Leafs in town early will be preparing for the NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, Mich. Hosted by the Detroit Red Wings, it’s the first time Toronto is participating. The Leafs, Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues are taking part.
The event is foremost in the mind of forward Semyon Der-arguchintsev. The 19-year-old, who looked more like the stick boy when drafted by the Leafs in 2018, now looks a lot more stocky than his initial measurements of five foot 10, 160 pounds. Marlies rookie camp linemate Mason Marchment described him as a “good little sewer player” last year and “Sam,” as he likes to be called, got in some pro time late last year with the Leafs’ ECHL champion affiliate Newfoundland Growlers. He’d love to make a further impression in St. John’s in the main Leafs camp after Traverse City.
“It’s my second week here and it’s a bit different (gravitating to Nhl-style) summer training,” said the Muscovite, who spent last year in his native Russia. “There are pretty hard workouts for me and it’s good.
“For me, it’s getting ready for the rookie tournament. I have to be good and feel 100 per cent. Toronto likes to play with skill, you have to compete and play smart. It doesn’t matter what height and weight you are, you have to play hard.”
MARNER WAITS
There is no real update in the game of contractual chicken between Mitch Marner and the Leafs, both sides apparently willing to wait until camp or, more specifically, the end of pre-season.
That’s when the club can try a Plan B and use the cap relief it acquired in July for the idled David Clarkson and combine it with the similarly sidelined dollars of Nathan Horton, a potential total of $10 million and change. But Marner is under no obligation to accept, even if general manager Kyle Dubas deserves some points for thinking outside the box. If the Marner camp doesn’t move off its long-rumoured price — Auston Matthews’ money in excess of $11 million a season — it’s either consider a shorter bridge deal, which neither side is high on, or Marner takes the Leafs to the RFA wire.
Waiting to see what unfolds is free agent defenceman Gardiner, yet to sign elsewhere in hopes the Leafs find more cash, but at this stage that would mean trading a set roster piece.
LOOSE LEAFS
If Der-arguchintsev is bigger, the Leafs/marlies should also get more bang for their buck from six-foot-four Russian Egor Korshkov, who was rumbling around the ice on Monday. He had a goal in nine playoff games with the Marlies last spring after his KHL season. Korshkov was Toronto’s second-round pick in 2016 at 31st overall ... Few trades feature the Leafs and Canadiens, and fewer still involve francophone players. But one deal made 27 years ago Tuesday benefited Toronto, which picked up defenceman Sylvain Lefebvre for a thirdround pick. Lefebvre became a stalwart in two conference final runs, while the Habs used the pick on QMJHL defender Martin Belanger, who never played in the NHL.