The Maple Leafs skated in two main groups at Ford Performance Centre on Friday.
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During a battle drill late in Friday’s practice, centre Auston Matthews absorbed a cross-check to the back before being pushed into the boards by 6-foot-5, 221-pound defenceman Philippe Myers. The Leafs captain fell to one knee before quickly bouncing back up.
It was the latest proof that the upper-body injury that hampered Matthews all of last season is truly in the past.
“I’m super happy with how I feel and just how the first two days have gone,” the 28-year-old said. “I mean, that’s all you can ask for, and you never really know until you get back out. You can do everything in the summer and train and skate and do all this stuff, but once you kind of get back into this kind of feeling, you want to respond and feel really good, and I definitely have.”
Matthews sustained the undisclosed injury during training camp last year. He missed 15 games during the regular season and even flew to Germany at one point for additional treatment. Matthews finished the season with a career-low 33 goals, which was down from the career-high of 69 the year previously.
“I felt like I handled that to the best of my ability last year,” Matthews said. “And, of course, you want to produce and do all that stuff, but, you know, we had the best regular season that we’ve had since I’ve been here. We won our division and did a lot of really good things that we just want to continue to build on going into this year.”
After Toronto’s second-round loss to the Florida Panthers, Matthews promised that a summer of rest, recovery, and hard work would remedy the issue, and that appears to be the case.
“I see him more engaged,” observed Leafs head coach Craig Berube. “I think he’s feeling good, so he’s more engaged and, like, heavier and harder on pucks and things like that. You can see a little bit of a difference, for sure.”
Matthews didn’t just take contact, he also popped a pair of goals during the battle drill sequence against Myers.
“He looks incredible out there,” said linemate Matthew Knies. “So, yeah, I’m glad he’s 100 per cent healthy and we’re going to need him like that for the whole season.”
Leafs Ice Chips: Healthy Matthews looking more engaged Auston Matthews pushed himself during Friday’s practice and came out of it looking like his old self as he enters camp healthy. TSN’s Mark Masters has more on how Matthews looked as well as Calle Jarnkrok, who dealt with injuries for a good chunk of last season.
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After seeing longtime wing man Mitch Marner leave for Vegas, Matthews will likely need to adapt his playing style this season.
“The give-and-go game, that’s where he’s going to miss Mitch the most,” Berube said. “They had great chemistry in that side of things, so it’s about maybe finding somebody else that can do that.”
Matias Maccelli is getting the first look beside Matthews and Knies at training camp.
“He’s extremely skilled, extremely shifty,” Matthews said. “He sees the ice really well. He finds lanes to put the puck in places that you wouldn’t really think are there sometimes.”
Still, Maccelli is not Marner, who racked up 102 points last season. Maccelli, meanwhile, mustered just 18 points in 55 games in Utah where he was a healthy scratch down the stretch before being traded to Toronto.
Berube suggests that Matthews may end up looking to take opponents on in one-on-one situations more often this season.
“Auston might take another step and start hanging onto pucks and beating people himself one-on-one,” the coach said. “They might have to change and be a little more direct. It’s just things like that. And then defensively, it’s about finding the guy that can fill the role, too. With Mitch on that line, he was a good defensive player, and so it’s just going to take some time. We’ll see where it ends up.”
The plan was for Max Domi to start on the top line with Matthews and Knies, but he’s currently sidelined with a lower-body issue. Domi skated on his own before the main group on Friday and is getting close to a return.
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Last year, the main topic of conversation at the start of camp was Marner’s contract status. This year, the buzz is all about how the Leafs are looking to fill the void.
“I don’t think it was really much of a distraction last year, to be honest,” Matthews said.
“I don’t really think any of the outside stuff was a distraction last year. And, you know, it’s definitely not a distraction this year. Maybe you guys will ask a couple more Mitchy questions here for the next couple of weeks (smile), but hopefully that’ll die down here shortly.”
Smiling Matthews hopes Marner questions will ‘die down shortly’ Life without Mitch Marner will be an adjustment for Auston Matthews but luckily for the Leafs, their captain has found success in the past without Marner. How will it impact his game? Head coach Craig Berube believes the give-and-go aspect will be the main difference.
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Veteran winger Calle Jarnkrok also dealt with injury adversity last season. He struggled at the start of training camp before undergoing groin and sports hernia surgery. He didn’t return to the lineup until March.
“I’m all smiles right now,” the 33-year-old Swede beamed. “It’s so much fun to be out there with no pain. Can just focus on, you know, playing hockey and have some fun out there.”
Jarnkrok did not look like himself after returning last season. He produced just one goal and six assists in 19 regular season games before mustering just one assist in 12 playoff games.
“I wasn’t 100 per cent when I was back,” Jarnkrok readily admits. “It was still hurting a bit. So, it wasn’t as fun playing when you’re out there and it still hurts. It was fun to be back, but it’s just way different right now.”
Jarnkrok started last year’s training camp on a line with William Nylander and Domi. This year, he’s on a line with newcomer Michael Pezzetta and David Kampf, who was scratched in all but one playoff game last spring.
Jarnkrok has some work to do to earn his spot in Toronto’s opening-night lineup. The early returns, though, are positive.
“He’s had a whole summer of training, and he feels really good, and it’s noticeable,” said Berube. “He looks really good to me. Got a lot of jump in his step. We all know Calle, he’s a good player. We all know that, but it’s [about] feeling good, too, and he feels good.”
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After playing most of last season on the right side, southpaw Oliver Ekman-Larsson is skating on the left side so far at training camp.
“You have to ask somebody else,” he said with a smile when asked if he’ll see more time on his strong side this year. “I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m on the left right now, so we’ll see how that plays out. But, like I said before, I said it last year, doesn’t matter left or right, I’ll just do whatever the team needs me to do.”
Do reporters focus too much on this type of stuff?
“Well, it’s good,” the 34-year-old Swede said with a grin. “You guys have something to talk about, right?”
Ekman-Larsson produced four goals and 29 points last season, which was down from the nine goals and 32 points he generated the previous season with the Panthers.
“You’re going to see more offence, right?” Berube said of moving Ekman-Larsson to the left. “I think any time a D-man with offensive abilities plays a strong side, he’s a lot more comfortable, and it’s just easier in the offensive zone. That’s where it really boils down for me. It’s pulling pucks off the wall, you’re on your forehand right away, and [when] you’re on your backhand, it’s a lot more difficult, and it’s not an easy thing to do. So, we’ll see how that plays out.”
Ekman-Larsson’s partner, Simon Benoit, is a more defensive-minded player.
“So far, you know, Benny’s been okay on the right,” Berube said. “We talked to him earlier in the summer about working on things, and [told him] that’s where he might start. So, he’s done a good job, too, but I think you’ll see, from the offensive side of things, more production, maybe, from Ekman-Larsson.”
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Additional power play time would also help Ekman-Larsson generate offence. He spent most of last season on the flank of the second unit as the Leafs employed a five-forward top unit.
“I always want to push the guys next to me and, I mean, I would love to get on the power play some,” Ekman-Larsson said. “I’m pushing for that but, at the same time, I’m supporting everybody who’s on the power play, PK and 5-on-5 and that’s what we need to do to kind of have that winning culture around here. And, yeah, I mean, I’ve got to push the guy next to you and that’s how you become a good team.”
Marner quarterbacked the top unit last season. In his absence, Morgan Rielly will take over once again at the top of the top unit.
“He’s done it in the past here, and they’ve had success,” Berube noted. “So, for me, it’s him right now.”
OEL pushing for power play opportunities as he remains flexible on the blue line Oliver Ekman-Larsson isn’t sure if he will be seeing more time on the left this season and says he’s willing to play wherever he is needed to help the team win. As for finding more opportunities on the power play, the veteran defenceman admitted, ‘I would love to get on the power play.’
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Despite returning the same top six that ended last year, the Leafs are hoping to get a little more offence from their defence this season. Toronto only got 21 goals from their blueliners last year, which was the fewest in the NHL.
Shutdown defenceman Chris Tanev focused on his offensive play during the summer.
“I’m always trying to get my shot better,” the 35-year-old said, “so the ability to get some pucks to the net. Always some room in my game to get better at that. I worked a lot here with those guys on that. And then just having a good stick, having good feet, make sure I have the ability to make passes when they’re there and move pucks up to our forwards as quick as possible.”
Tanev established career-highs in goals (six) and points (28) during the 2021-22 season with the Calgary Flames. He finished his first season in Toronto with three goals and 15 assists in 75 games.
“You’re always trying to get better,” Tanev said. “Once you stop doing that, that’s when guys or your own personal self, maybe, you take a step back. I think always having that persistence and that edge to get better, and that want to and will to get better, is huge.”
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With Marner off the books, the Leafs looked to use the greater cap flexibility this summer to build a deeper lineup. In particular, a new-look third time is already showing its potential at training camp.
Nicolas Roy, who was acquired in the sign-and-trade which saw Marner land in Vegas, has been skating with Dakota Joshua, who was picked up in a deal with the Vancouver Canucks.
“The type of player I like to play with,” Roy said of Joshua. “Big guy, keeps it simple, likes to protect the puck, go to the net, so it’s a little bit my game as well. It’s been fun to play with him, even in the little scrimmage we did pre-camp. Yeah, good player.”
The feeling is mutual.
“A great player to play with,” said Joshua. “Very simple and easy to read off of so it makes the job for people around him a lot easier.”
Berube loves the size on the line. Roy stands 6-foot-4, 201 pounds while Joshua is 6-foot-3, 206 pounds.
“It’s a line that can go out against any line in the league and hold them down, check them, be physical and hard on them with the size and the strength that they have,” Berube said. “They play similar games, you know, down low in the offensive zone, checking, things like that. Be hard to play against, you know? That’s why I like them together.”
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Top prospect Easton Cowan is currently getting reps beside Roy and Joshua. Maccelli appears to be a candidate to slide down to that unit once Domi returns.
“I like a guy that has the skill to make some plays to these guys, because they have the ability to score some goals around the net, both of them, which they have in the past,” said Berube. “So, you know, you gotta have a guy that can actually make some plays and get them the puck at times, too.”
Roy will soak up defensive-zone starts, which will free up Matthews to do more damage in the offensive zone. But the belief is that Roy, who matched a career-high with 15 goals last season, can chip in his fair share of offence as well.
“Extremely underrated,” Tanev said of Roy. “So responsible, great stick, and has way more skill than probably people here think.”
“For a big man, he’s pretty good in tight around the net too and making little slip plays and stuff like that,” observed winger Bobby McMann.
Roy, Joshua building early chemistry with Cowan who ‘wants to be a difference-maker’ Nicolas Roy, Dakota Joshua and Easton Cowan skated on a line together during Friday’s practice and the trio are starting to get a feel for each other. Roy and Joshua described what it’s been like to skate together, the potential they have and what they’ve seen from Cowan so far at camp.
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Lines at Friday’s Leafs practice:
Group 1
Knies – Matthews – Maccelli
Lorentz – Laughton – Robertson
Pezzetta – Kampf – Jarnkrok
Barbolini – Groulx – Tverberg
Valis
Rielly – Carlo
Thrun – Myers
Rifai – Danford
Chadwick – Benning
Stolarz
Hildeby
Group 2
McMann – Tavares – W.Nylander
Joshua – Roy – Cowan
Boyd – Haymes – A.Ny
lander
Sim – Quillan – Lettieri
Hopkins
McCabe – Tanev
Ekman-Larsson – Benoit
Smith – Mermis
Webber – Villeneuve
Woll
Akhtyamov