Toronto's blues brothers a breath of fresh air

Mitch Marner was on the ice long before practice began to help Toronto Maple Leafs goalie coach Steve Briere work his netminders. Briere fed rapid-fire passes to Marner, which the rookie forward converted to wrist shots, trying to beat the goalies in the five-hole or high on the glove side.

Fellow Leafs rookie Auston Matthews, also out early, joined them and set up in front of the net to pounce on rebounds he buried in the twine. The aggressive centre came nose to nose with a fixture at Leafs' practices – a durable rubber mannequin in full hockey equipment and positioned in front of the goalie to block his view.

Matthews jostled the life-size dummy with playful elbows and then whacked its face with his stick. Marner snickered and kept firing wristers.

It was a glimpse into the mix of fierce dedication and boyish fun enjoyed by the Leafs' high-profile 19-year-olds in their breakout NHL season. The league's worst franchise last year, when it won just 29 games, finds itself in an unexpected spot at the season's midway point: in playoff position.

The surprising success is largely because of the Leafs' unusually large crop of rookie players who have combined for 174 points. If they keep it up, they'll pass the NHL record of 330 tallied by the 1992-93 Winnipeg Jets' rookies.

Headlining the group is the crafty Marner, who is tied for second with Matthews among rookies in points (39) and leads in assists (28). (Winnipeg's Patrik Laine leads all rookies with 40 points.)

Matthews, the dynamic first-overall draft pick has a rookie-high 23 goals, a rookie-high 163 shots on goal, and a spot in this weekend's all-star game.

He is the youngest Leaf all-star since a 19-year-old rookie named Wendel Clark in 1986.

The two stars, both in the Calder Trophy conversation, have excited long-suffering Leafs fans, and not just by darting through defenders or potting game-winning goals. The two baby-faced newcomers are fast growing into stars of the franchise and making it look fun. When was the last time the Leafs looked fun?

The bromance between strapping 6-foot-3, 216-pound Matthews and six-foot, 180-pound Marner is the stuff of fascination – akin to Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez of the Toronto Blue Jays or Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors. Whether the duo is singing along to Bon Jovi on the bench or carpooling to the rink in matching fedoras and pea coats, they are navigating their first year in Toronto's white-hot spotlight together.

"He texted me a photo of his outfit," said the light-hearted Marner, smiling over at Matthews a few lockers to his left after a photo of the fedora-clad duo on Instagram prompted Leaf Nation into a flurry of hilarious memes. "When he came to pick me up, I couldn't make him go it alone."

'He's able to find open space and also get the puck off fast'

Don Granato had to chuckle each time he heard someone question how Matthews might handle the pressure of being the first overall draft pick and playing in one of the NHL's most scrutinized markets.

"Most players will question their own ability at some point, but not the elite, like Auston," said Granato, who coached Matthews from 2013-15 in the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (USNTDP) in Ann Arbor, Mich. "He's absolutely perfect for that market because his skill level is so high and he always has confidence he can remedy something."

Granato would ask his players how they wanted to be treated, and Matthews, like the other teens, insisted on being treated like an NHL pro – with the same daily rigours and responsibilities. The big kid from Scottsdale, Ariz., tallied 55 goals and 117 points in USHL play in his second year there, smashing the USNTDP record set by Patrick Kane in 2005-06 (52 goals, 102 points).

"When you go from youth hockey to playing with the national-team program, you can't score those easy goals anymore, so he had to learn how to position himself because there was no way he was going to live with not scoring," Granato said. "He's very intuitive and he figured out pretty quickly how to fix that."

He proved a quick study last year, too, playing pro hockey in the Swiss National League A for the ZSC Lions. He finished 10th in the league in scoring.

Many rookie centres struggle with defensive responsibilities in the NHL, but Matthews had honed that in Switzerland. Instead of playing Matthews with veterans or enforcers, Leafs coach Mike Babcock put him with rookies – Zach Hyman and either William Nylander or Connor Brown.

"He's got an elite shot, he's a great skater and the number of shots he takes each game – it's crazy for anyone," Hyman said. "He's able to find open space and also get the puck off fast because he has a very quick release. In the D-Zone, he does a lot of huge things that help us get the puck back. His work away from the puck up the middle is something people probably don't notice."

The Leafs have protected their rookies from too many media requests or obligations beyond quick daily locker-front scrums. Walk by the Real Sports apparel store in Maple Leafs Square, and it's the faces of Leafs veterans such as Tyler Bozak or Morgan Rielly you see most in the ads postering the windows during this, the club's centennial season. According to the NHL's official online shop, Matthews has the league's No. 2-selling jersey this season, trailing only Sidney Crosby.

Matthews's agent has certainly heard from businesses eager to partner with the teen sensation, but he shares the philosophy of letting a rookie focus on hockey.

"We do have opportunities in many categories – financial, beverages, quick-serve restaurants – and in time, with the right message, we'll explore things, but right now we're taking it slowly. He's not going to be a walking billboard in Toronto," said his agent, Pat Brisson. "My job is to protect the young player."

When often asked if the team's rebuilding is ahead of schedule, Babcock is quick to temper the excitement with a firm "let's not get carried away." But he wasn't shy to make a grand expectation for Matthews.

"In our situation, we need him to be a dominant, dominant centre for us. We think he's going to be by Christmastime," Babcock said in November. "We think he's a very good player already. But we think he can be lights-out with and without the puck."

Matthews had opened his debut season with an astonishing four-goal night against the Ottawa Senators. Shortly after, he played through a 13-game scoreless drought – a time when he and his Stanley Cup-winning coach would study film of Crosby and Henrik Zetterberg. Babcock kept Matthews feeling upbeat during that time by praising his responsible play, and eventually his scoring returned.

"The first half of the season we were kind of sheltered and [Babcock] had us playing more against second or third lines," Matthews said. "When I'm playing well, I do think I can be a dominant centre. The biggest adjustment has been playing without the puck and it's been the most important thing for me in my first year. Nobody really makes mistakes out there and positioning is so key. When you've got that down, playing well without the puck and in the [defensive] zone, it makes life easier against the tough players."

'Mitch finds ways to score goals'

Some believed Marner could have played in the NHL a year ago. Instead, the Leafs decided that while they laboured through a tough rebuilding season, the feisty scoring threat from Markham, Ont., whom they drafted fourth over all in 2015, should stay with the London Knights. There the energetic forward, who was often called Mickey Mouse as a kid, won a Memorial Cup and was tournament MVP and leading scorer.

"The thing that blows people away is that, in a game that's been played for so long, Mitch finds ways to score goals that have you saying 'I've never seen someone do that in a game before; that's brand new,'" said Mike Stubbs, long-time Knights radio play-by-play voice. "One time against the Niagara Ice Dogs, I swear he came through the defence twice and made everyone dizzy, including the goalie. On long bus trips he was a guy who could never fall asleep. He always seemed to have never-ending energy."

In Leafs training camp, Marner quickly went from a long shot to a must-have, the slippery forward noodling through defenders and looking to set up teammates.

"He's shown he doesn't have to cheat defensively in order to create offence and not all young players can do that. I like that he's showing that flash and creativity and confidence that he had in junior at the NHL level, and it's not high risk," said Sportsnet broadcaster Craig Simpson. "His line with Bozak and [James] van Riemsdyk is really flourishing. Marner brings you to the edge of your seat every time he touches the puck."

'We keep it light with each other'

There are eight Leafs freshmen this season, all contributing in big ways, but it's Marner and Matthews jockeying atop the rookie points leaderboard. Still, the two insist the topic never comes up in conversation, even during those daily car rides to the rink.

"We never talked about it," Marner said. "We like to keep it light with each other."

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