Babcock thinks outside the lines
Coach puts Marner, Hyman with Tavares as team opens camp
NIAGARA FALLS— Both Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman agreed: It was weird for them not to be on the same line together as the Maple Leafs scrimmaged together for the first time in training camp.
“I haven’t seen much five-onfive without (Hyman) on my left wing,” Matthews said. “It was a little strange. Now I’m on the other side, of him hounding me.”
Hyman took the left-wing spot with new centre John Tavares, with Mitch Marner on the right wing.
“It was weird going up against him,” Hyman said. “I’m not complaining with who they put me with.” The Hyman-Matthews-William Nylander unit has seemed set in stone since Leafs coach Mike Babcock put them together two seasons ago. When healthy, the three played almost exclusively with each other, even as fans clamoured they wanted to see Matthews with Marner, or moaned about Hyman on Matthews’ left wing rather than a pure shooter.
Babcock, partly out of necessity, has had to break up what was his No. 1 line. Nylander, a restricted free agent, is without a contract and not in camp.
“I just think sometimes things get old,” the coach said. “It will be interesting to see how all that goes. Right now, if you’re John Tavares and you got Hyman and Marner and they’re both flying at 900 miles an hour, it’s got to be a pretty good feeling.”
“They’re quick, they handle the puck extremely well, the creativity is great,” Tavares said. “It’s going to force me to play at a higher level, more pace to my game.”
Matthews skated with Patrick Marleau and Tyler Ennis, a small, fast, skilled forward who had a down season with Minnesota last year after getting off to a promising start to his career in Buffalo.
“I thought Matthews looked good today,” Babcock said.
“He looked fresh. I thought he skated real good today. He’s come back. He missed a lot of time last year, it affected him. He looks real good that way. Patty Marleau is 39 but looks like he’s got real good pop. We’ll find something to fit in over time. It’s just camp.” But moving Hyman was an idea Babcock floated on July 1 when Tavares signed with the Leafs.
“One of the ways we were able to recruit John was to tell him he gets to play with real good players. That’s just the facts,” Babcock said.
“Mitch Marner, for a guy like John, is the perfect winger for him. Hyman gives him a real heavy body to get the puck back. That’s a real good combination.”
Marner had spent most of his young career with Tyler Bozak, now with St. Louis, as his centre. Playing with Tavares is a treat, he said.
“He’s a lot of fun to play with. Obviously, we’re growing the chemistry. That was our first time out on the ice. We … have to learn where each other likes to be.”
The other lines were just as new: Nazem Kadri centred Josh Leivo and Connor Brown; Par Lindholm centred Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen, forming an all-European line of players hungry for bigger roles; and Frederik Gauthier — Lindholm’s rival for the fourthline job — was between some Marlies he’s familiar with, Pierre Engvall and Trevor Moore.
“No one plays with regular lines in camp,” Babcock said. “You just come here and play. You usually get what you earn. My advice to everyone is to come here, work hard, put your best foot forward every day and in the end, the best players play.”