Maple Leafs’ stars ready to lead the way
TORONTO — With John Tavares, Morgan Rielly and Patrick Marleau named alternate captains before a puck was dropped, the Toronto Maple Leafs seemed to be all about keeping the focus on playing hockey rather than the business of hockey as training camp opened Thursday at the MasterCard Centre.
“For management and the organization to feel as a new guy coming in that I can make that kind of impact right away on the group and looked upon as a leader, I’m very thankful for, and I don’t take that for granted,” said Tavares. “I understand what that means and what that represents and how important that is, so just not take it for granted, and just go out there and just be myself and do the best I can for this hockey club.”
Marleau and Rielly wore “A”s last season with the Leafs. Tavares had been captain of the New York Islanders and was chosen over Auston Matthews, whom many believe will one day captain the National Hockey League team.
“We’ve obviously added a player to our mix that’s been a captain for a long time before,” new GM Kyle Dubas said of Tavares. “And we have excellent existing leaders. And we have young players that have leadership qualities to them that we’re going to try to continue to develop them.
“I think that patience in this matter is much better in the long run than rushing to name a captain to pacify the demand we have a captain. That best serves the organization and best serves the leaders in our group.”
Still, the business of the game — William Nylander was not at camp, remaining without a contract but with talks continuing — contrasted with a wave of optimism coming from the players who are expected to lead this team to the playoffs for the third year in a row.
“He’s not going to come here and risk an injury if something goes wrong. You understand that from a player’s perspective,” forward Mitch Marner said of Nylander. “He’s a big part of our team. Hopefully, the contract (dispute) ends soon and he gets back out here ... you’ve got to do what’s best for yourself and you family. You understand that.”
Word is Nylander is looking for about $8 million a year, with the Leafs more in the neighbourhood of $6 million to $7 million.
“We’re continuing to have dialogue with him,” said Dubas.
And questions surrounding the whereabouts of talks regarding contract extensions for other key players — including Matthews, Marner and Jake Gardiner — also promise to be a counterbalance to the idea the team is built not only to win now but to win in the future. “There hasn’t been too much talk,” Marner said of his own talks. “It doesn’t matter. Obviously, I have this full year ahead of me.”
As the players headed to Niagara Falls for three days of workouts at the Gale Centre, there was optimism all around.
“Going in every year as a player, the mindset’s always to go out there and win the Stanley Cup, and then individually to continue to have growth as a player and a person,” said Tavares. “Obviously, there’s a lot of excitement and attention around the team and high expectations, but all we can do is control what we can control, and worry about what we do on a daily basis, and how we get better, and going out there and giving it everything we can, and wanting to reward our team and the city and fan base, and that’s all that we can control. “But we’re excited.”
The Leafs — with Tavares in the fold and younger players bound to get better — have established themselves as a Cup favourite. The betting line in Vegas reflects that. As have players around the league.
“It’s nice to hear that, it’s nice to have those things said about you, but we still have a lot to prove as a group,” said Dubas. “We haven’t won a playoff series yet so we have to start by focusing on that today and tomorrow and giving ourselves the most chance we can year in and year out.
“We have an exciting group of young players ... With everything you do in life, if people have expectations of you, you’ve earned them and you have the talent and they believe in you to reach a certain potential so I think that’s a testament to the players we have and their talent and the work they’ve put in so far.”