Leafs’ depth of young talent at forward on display
HALIFAX— While Maple Leafs fans were understandably getting excited watching Auston Matthews through the World Cup of Hockey, Mitch Marner and William Nylander were quietly beginning training camp.
It was Marner, the fourth overall pick from the 2015 draft, who had the camp spotlight last year. Nylander, the eighth overall pick from 2014, finally got to the NHL at the end of the season for a stay that was brief, but enlightening.
Marner will again be front and centre when the Leafs play the Ottawa Senators in their first exhibition game Monday night. Nylander will get the night off.
“I feel more confident with the puck,” Marner said. “You want to make plays with the puck, make the plays you’re used to. My first year, it felt like I was rushing everything and not focusing on the game I play.”
This is an intriguingly competitive training camp, especially for young forwards. Playing through scrimmages on a line with Brooks Laich and Colin Greening — a couple of bigger, tougher veterans who can make some space for him — Marner appears NHL-ready.
“I’ve seen a lot more poise, a lot of maturity and that year of experience,” GM Lou Lamoriello said. “He’s had a great year. We’re really pleased with what we see right now.”
As for Nylander, Lamoriello said he “showed what he could do when he came up last year. He’s a talent and he’s going to be a key player in our organization.”
The same could be said of Matthews, who will join the team Tuesday after a stellar World Cup. And with Josh Leivo, Connor Brown and Zach Hyman, the list of high-end Leafs prospects at forward could be construed as ridiculously high, especially given the Leafs have 10 veteran forwards with guaranteed NHL contracts.
“I’m here to try to make the Toronto Maple Leafs,” Brown said. “I feel I’m ready. That’s why you work hard all summer, to come here and punch a hole in the lineup.”
Leafs Nation will be clamouring to see the kids who are supposed to deliver a winning hockey team. “I think the younger group have an op- portunity they’ll never have again,” said Lamoriello. “There are only 10 players who were on the opening night roster that are here from last year. There are a lot of positions open.” That means not only must the young players beat out veterans for jobs, but management must be prepared to find a new home for those displaced vets, each with guaranteed contracts that can be hard to move and hard to bury in the minors. It comes down to competition.
“You don’t think there will ever be a day for guys like us that are competing for spots,” Brown said. “At the end of the year, they don’t say: ‘Brownie gets a spot.’ I don’t think it’s that way for any guys trying to punch holes on the team.
“You work as hard as you can and do what you have to do and try to make a name for yourself.”
Lamoriello, who espouses using the time as an asset and an ally, has options with some players that could delay the rush of rookies making the team in October.
In fact, just about every one of them, including Matthews and Nylander, could be sent the minors without the worry of waivers. Marner has a year of OHL eligibility remaining, so he could return to London if there is a roster squeeze.
Leivo is the only young forward in the Leafs’ stable of ready-for-primetime minor-leaguers who is on his second contract, and would require waivers if sent to the Marlies.
“It’s my first year off the entry-level contract, and I’m aware of the situation,” Leivo said. “I want to play here and I want to bring a Stanley Cup to this organization.
“There’s pressure. I want to do really well in this camp because I want to be a part of the team. I expect to make it, and I expect to be a player that can help this team win.”
Although anything can happen in training camp, the smart money has Matthews, Nylander and Marner — the three top prospects — starting with the Leafs come opening night. Nylander and Marner got some power-play time together in scrimmages, creating scoring chances, but coming up empty. “It was fun to be out there together,” Nylander said. “We think the game the same way. It’s easy to get the chemistry going.”