Connor McDavid meets a new friend and an old foe.
Matthews played with the centre during World Cup; Marner a rival in the OHL
When Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers come to town Tuesday night, it will be a matter of renewing acquaintances.
Waiting to see him will be Mitch Marner, his old Ontario Hockey League rival from their London-Erie days, and Auston Matthews, who has battled McDavid internationally in junior tournaments when it was Canada vs. the U.S., and as North American teammates at the World Cup.
Both Leafs said they’re looking forward to face McDavid.
“For sure,” Matthews said. “They’ve gotten off to a hot start. It’s going to be a good challenge for us. I think all of us will be pretty hungry to get back in the win column.”
The hype around Matthews — this year’s No. 1overall pick in the draft — started at the World Cup when he was the winger on a line with McDavid, last year’s No. 1 overall pick. The two had chemistry.
“He’s so easy to play with,” Matthews said.
“He does everything so well at such a high speed. Being able to play with him was just a blast.”
McDavid has thrived on Air Canada Centre ice, winning gold at the world juniors in 2015, and creating significant buzz during the World Cup. But he hasn’t played here with the Oilers, missing last year’s lone appearance with a broken collarbone.
McDavid, who still hasn’t played a full NHL season, is tied for the league scoring, a spot with which he has been familiar at pretty much every level. Marner has crossed paths with him as far back as minor hockey.
“It will be exciting,” the Leafs teenager said. “Obviously, it’s a good team over there. It’s not just him.”
Matthews says he hasn’t been in touch with McDavid since the World Cup ended. “We’re on our respective teams and pretty focused on our team,” Matthews said.
“I’m sure once the season is over, guys who got really close together for those couple of weeks will get together down the road.”
The game will be significant for other reasons: Marner and Matthews will play their 10th NHL game.
It’s become a rite of passage around the league when a teenaged hockey player gets to his ninth game for fans and media to start fretting about the value of burning a year of the threeyear entry-level contract versus another year of seasoning in junior (for Marner) or the minors (for Matthews).
But it’s clear both these19-year-olds belong in the NHL.
“You can speak to all the youth we have,” veteran James van Riemsdyk said. “They’ve all done a great job and really contributed and . . . are key members of our team.” The 10-game plateau means Marner and Matthews will be restricted free agents together following the 2018-19 season, perhaps trying to raise the bar William Nylander will have set after his entry-level deal expires after the 2017-18 season.
Fellow Leafs Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, Seth Griffith, Nikita Zaitsev and Frankie Corrado, along with Peter Holland, will be restricted free agents this summer. Only Corrado and Holland will have arbitration rights.
More significant are the veterans who will be unrestricted free agents whose salaries will fall off the books: Brooks Laich, Milan Michalek, Colin Greening and Matt Hunwick, along with the less expensive Jhonas Enroth and Ben Smith.