They’ve all grown up in front of us, fresh-faced kids, once caught on camera singing along to Scotiabank music in timeouts, right through their promotion to team captain and alternates, their high-profile off-ice relationships, big weddings and now children.
But the longest-serving Maple Leafs still lack a Stanley Cup to make the picture complete.
A couple of them spoke on the topic as they gathered for training camp, all first-round picks now in their late 20s.
“That group of guys who’ve been together a while now, it’s been a great part about playing for this team,” said defenceman Morgan Rielly, who turns 30 in March and welcomed son McCormick with partner Tessa Virtue this summer. “The people involved in this organization; those upstairs, the coaching staff, the players … you build relationships and create friendships and get to go through life together to a certain extent.
“We’re all quite fond of one another and now the next step we need to accomplish is winning. That’s always been the main focus.”
Rielly has been there from the dawn of the Shanaplan, when the rebuilding Leafs added William Nylander, Mitch Marner and finally first-overall pick Auston Matthews. There were some remarkable regular seasons, the past three reaching 100-plus points, but far too many lost elimination playoff games and just one series win.
“There is stuff that’s happened along the way in that journey,” Rielly conceded, “but ultimately, we want to win together, in Toronto, and we’re constantly competing to try and make that happen, to get better, make yourself better for the goal of Cup champions.”
Marner, who married long-time girlfriend Stephanie LaChance in 2023, was among the most precocious of the kids, but has had a rocky path at times. The creative first-team all-star in 2021, who was a point shy of 100 in 2022-23, has taken the most heat from fans for the team’s playoff failures.
This past summer brought a wave of trade speculation before Marner insisted he wanted to stay, work it out under old-school coach Craig Berube and get a contract extension. He sees his future in his hometown GTA where he has a successful charitable foundation.
“Mitch dealt with it great, he had a great summer,” new captain Matthews said. “He’s put in the work, looks great on the ice, off the ice. We’re all here to support him as teammates. I don’t think that (trade) stuff has really affected him or is going to affect him.”
Many think the best Cup chance for the Leafs core to win has now passed, but Marner hasn’t closed that window.
“We know we have the right people,” he said. “We’re just making sure we’re not looking too far ahead (this season), just being in the here and now, taking it day by day, nail down all the new concepts Chief (Berube) is bringing in.”
Matthews just inherited the captaincy at age 27 from John Tavares, a move the club wanted to make a few years ago before an off-ice brush with the law convinced the hierarchy he wasn’t ready for the role. Now a Hart Trophy winner and three-time Rocket Richard Trophy recipient, Matthews is in sight of several of the team’s scoring milestones and is prepared for what all hope will be a productive long-term relationship with Berube.
Matthews says the 34-year-old Tavares has made the transition a smooth one (captains rarely relinquish the ‘C’ and stay with the same team) and, in Sunday’s first exhibition game, Matthews was huddling with the officials to get explanations on some calls and non-calls.
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before watching (Tavares) and the conversations that we’ve had. It’s mostly just organic, talking through stuff, questions that have come up or might come up. He’s obviously been through it before as captain of the Islanders and here, definitely a guy I can lean on a lot for a number of different things.”
Tavares knew the changing of the guard would happen eventually.
“Nothing very drastic or dramatic, everything’s been very natural. It’s amazing the growth we’ve all seen in Auston, certainly in my six years here; who he is as a player, a person and how ready he is for it. No doubt he has that responsibility now and I’ll continue to support him.”
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