TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in with news and notes from Maple Leafs practices and game-day skates. The Maple Leafs and Lightning both held morning skates at the Air Canada Centre ahead of Tuesday's game.

- Nazem Kadri is content with the role he's been playing so far this season. He's getting the tough defensive match-ups while the Leafs lean on the Auston Matthews line and the Tyler Bozak line for offence. “I don't mind that, that's fine with me,” said Kadri, who signed a six-year extension after last season. “Obviously, I've been here a little longer so expectations are higher.” In general, Kadri is happy to cede the spotlight to the kids. “I certainly don't mind it, that's for sure,” he said with a chuckle. “I enjoy keeping to myself sometimes, but at the end of the day, I mean, we're going to need everyone to win, young guys, old guys.”

- Head coach Mike Babcock was asked what his expectations are for Kadri this season. “I expect him to be really good,” he said. “I expect him to be our matchup guy, dominant in the faceoff circle, a physical challenge for the opponent every single night [and] his line to spend a lot of time in the offensive zone.” Last year, Babcock and Kadri met on almost a daily basis. This year? “He's leaving me alone a little bit more,” Kadri said with a grin. “I still meet with him, obviously, every now and again for a little touch up, but he's kind of moved on and met with Mats and Marns and all the younger kids to get them on the right path so he's kind of leaving me be a little bit.” Does he feel a bit neglected? “I don't feel neglected at all. I think I was in his office maybe a little too much last year (laughs).”

- “Hello, centre of the universe,” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper quipped as he walked into the middle of his big media scrum this morning. Last year, a trip to Toronto would've had a different feel for the Lightning as captain Steven Stamkos was a pending UFA while Jonathan Drouin was engaged in a stand-off with management. “We're just the boring Tampa Bay Lightning now,” Cooper said with a laugh. “Everyone wanted to stay and they found a way to stay and we got to keep everybody together and it shows you the group we have that nobody put their ego first and that's why we're the no-drama Lightning right now.” Stamkos said the warm weather and a favourable tax code aren't the key reasons guys like him, Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman made a commitment to stay in Florida. “It's because of the talent that we have and the runs that we've made and the experience we've gained and we want to see that to the end,” Stamkos said. “I think that's pretty rare in today's sports, in general, that guys want to stick together — whether it's take a little less money or, in Kuch's case, take a bridge deal. That's pretty special.”

- Drouin reflected on his time away from the Lightning last season when he requested a trade. During that time, Drouin watched a lot of hockey and saw things he hadn't noticed before. “Sometimes you are looking for that perfect play still,” the 21-year-old winger said. “Even two years in the NHL and you still haven't figured that out that sometimes you just have to chip it in, or not staying out that extra 15 seconds that's going to put you in your D zone for another 30, stuff like that.”

Leafs lines at morning skate:

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Marner
Komarov-Kadri-Brown
Martin-Holland-Smith
Extras: Griffith, Leivo   

Rielly-Zaitsev
Gardiner-Polak
Hunwick-Carrick
Extras: Marincin-Corrado

Andersen - starts  
Enroth

* PP units at morning skate:

JVR-Bozak-Marner
Carrick, Zaitsev

Matthews-Kadri-Nylander
Gardiner, Komarov