Bozak is Leafs’ elder statesman
Veteran longest-serving Maple Leaf at age 30 as club turns to youth
BUFFALO— The other day, Tyler Bozak was looking around the Maple Leafs’ dressing room — one filled with many young, new faces — when a thought dawned on him.
No one has been around here longer than him.
“I was thinking to myself, I don’t think any of these guys were here when I first got here,” says Bozak. “Time flies, it’s crazy. There’s been a lot of turnover since I first got here.”
Bozak signed with the Leafs as a college free agent in 2009.
Since then, Bozak has played with 136 different teammates under three different GMs and for four different coaches. Matt Stajan was the Leafs’ No. 1 centre in Bozak’s rookie year and Vesa Toskala the No. 1 goalie.
Bozak has endured a lot, beginning with concerns he was too small for the NHL, and morphing into the common complaint he’s not a No. 1 centre. All that talk seems to have faded with the rise of Nazem Kadri and the drafting of Auston Matthews, whom most believe has it what it takes to be a No. 1 centre.
Through it all, Bozak has been true to himself. The criticisms roll easily off his back. He’s a new dad now, son Kanon turns one next month and is just learning to walk, and that seems to have grounded the 30-year-old hockey player.
“I feel old when I see all these young guys, but I still feel like I look kind of young,” says Bozak. “There are not many guys with kids on the team. That makes me one of the few. That makes me feel old, but it’s awesome.”
He has been around long enough now to be tied with Ed Olczyk for 42nd on the Leafs’ career points list with 267, and he is 47th in regularseason games played with 435.
Though far from a grey-beard — in fact he looks so youthful it doesn’t look like could grow a beard — he has nonetheless taken young players under his wing to offer them advice.
Agood example is 21-year-old rookie Trevor Moore, who signed this year with the Leafs as a college free agent. The two worked out together the past few summers and both went to the same college, the University of Denver.
“He definitely helped me out,” said Moore, in his first Leafs camp and destined most likely for the AHL’s Marlies. “He gave me some tips about how to be a pro and what happens in camp. It helps, definitely.”
Leafs assistant coach Jim Hiller said Bozak has matured in the time he’s gotten to know him, and sees younger players ask him questions.
“He’s been a good pro for a lot of years,” Hiller says of Bozak. “Anytime you have that experience, a top line player who has put up points and has some pedigree in the league,
“There are not many guys with kids on the team. That makes me one of the few. That makes me feel old.” LEAFS’ TYLER BOZAK
younger players will gravitate to him.
“Bozak has done a really good job and has been engaged this whole camp.”
If anything has changed in the time since Bozak broke into the league, he said it’s the confidence the younger players exhibit.
“It’s funny that the young kids are so confident nowadays,” says Bozak. “It’s something I didn’t have when I came into the league, and I wish I did. I was pretty nervous my first year. They don’t seem to be nervous.”
Of course, it all comes at a time when Bozak is 30 and has two years left on a deal that pays him $4.2 million (U.S.) a season, which could eventually make him trade bait. The team has made a habit the last two years of moving older players at the deadline for prospects and draft picks. Moving Bozak would save salary cap space and open up a roster spot for a younger player.
“After however many years I’ve been here, there have been trade rumours every year except my first,” said Bozak. “Everyone said I’m going to get traded the last six years, and it hasn’t happened. It’s exciting times here though. Things are really on the rise. Things are in place and set up for a good future.
“We have a ton of young guys. I think we can surprise some people.”