Marner primed for big contract year after training alongside NHL's elite

Before taking any questions, Mitch Marner opened his camp-opening media availability with a statement. 

"Obviously know there's going to be some contract questions, but not here to talk about that," said the winger, who is entering the final season of his current six-year deal. "I'm very happy to be a Maple Leaf. It's an unbelievable privilege. But I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to talk about the season and getting going."

Marner has piled up gaudy numbers during his eight seasons in Toronto. He's already up to eighth on the all-time franchise scoring list with 639 points in 576 games. But playoff success has remained elusive for the team during this era with just one series win. 

Leafs management, under the leadership of president Brendan Shanahan, has remained committed to the core. Auston Matthews and William Nylander are starting rich new contract extensions this year and a mid-season extension for Marner certainly seems possible. For now, everyone involved is keeping a low profile.

"There has been communication, but what way those talks have gone is really hard to get a handle on," said TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston. "A main part of that is they're trying to do this as quiet as possible and that's tough to do in a market like this. I look back to last year with William Nylander and the Leafs did manage keep the negotiations largely under wraps before ultimately signing him to an extension in January and it wouldn't be surprising to me if that's the way things went for Marner."  

At the start of camp last year, general manager Brad Treliving described Nylander as a "cool cat" who wouldn't let the contract chatter get to him. Nylander proceeded to get off to a red-hot start. But every player is different and Marner has expressed frustration with the coverage in Toronto at times. 

So, what's the key for Marner in a contract year? 

"You can't think of it that way," the 27-year-old stressed. "It's another year of you wanting to be the best you can be to help this team win hockey games. That's where my mind is."

"He's dealt with it great," said Matthews, who entered the league alongside Marner in the 2016-17 season. "He's had a great summer. With all the noise, you can only control so much. He's put in a lot of work. He looks great ... We're all here to support him as teammates and as a team so I don't think that stuff has really effected him or is going to effect him much at all." 

Marner prepared for the season by working out alongside Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon at a camp in Vail, Colorado. 

"Just training with those guys makes you want to up your game even more," he said. 

Watching how the trio of Hart Trophy winners refined their games after practice resonated with Marner. 

"Just working on little plays, little things, and just little movements that could really come into your game," he said. "It was pretty special to watch. I have a lot of respect for those three guys and to spend the week with them and kind of shoot the ..."

Marner broke into his only smile of the news conference. 

"I almost swore there. [To] shoot the crap with them was pretty special." 

MacKinnon raved about Marner after the camp. 

"Marner gets a lot of flak in Toronto," MacKinnon told the Canadian Press. "But he's honestly one of the best players in the league. I play with some of the best players in the league, and then I skate with Marns, and he's right up there with anyone. Especially at that camp, there was a lot of good players. He stuck out as one of the best."

"He is a special player," Shanahan said. "Anybody who can get you 100 points and also be one of the top one or two defensive forwards in the NHL means you're a special player. Other people are coming to his defence and recognizing that as well. Some of his peers have made that [observation] and Mitch has had a great offseason." 

Marner recorded 85 points in 69 games last season. He put up a career high 99 points in 80 games the year prior, which led to a Selke Trophy nomination. 

But the playoff production hasn't been there at key times and Marner only registered three points in a seven-game loss to the Boston Bruins last spring. 

"Well, that's in the past," said new head coach Craig Berube. "I've been around Mitch a bunch and he's a great person and a great two-way player. He's been up for the Selke. He puts up numbers every year."

The hope is that it's only a matter of time before a postseason breakthrough comes for both Marner and the team. 

"I think there is a great maturation that occurs with all players at different moments, different times," Shanahan said. "Mitch has always been a very committed person and very committed hockey player. I think when you see the work he puts in and see his love for the game and his love for the city of Toronto that helps you believe in a guy like Mitch Marner." 

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John Tavares is also entering the final year of his contract. 

"Both have had great summers," said Treliving. "Great players and hopefully they are going to be great Leafs for a long, long time. But, as far as worrying about any contracts, those are things we'll handle behind closed doors."   

Like Marner, Tavares was reluctant to talk about his situation on Wednesday. 

"I understand the question, I respect it," the 33-year-old from Mississauga, Ont. said. "Obviously, it's not something I'm going to talk about and focus on every single day and whatnot, but obviously I want to be here. I want to be here long term and hopefully that happens." 

Tavares has been in this situation before. He produced 84 points in 82 games in his last contract year back in the 2017-18 season with the New York Islanders. 

"Every year you gotta prove yourself," he said. "For me, it's not resting on what I've done or where I'm at. I want to continue to push the envelope and challenge myself to play at a very high level. For me, it's about going about my business the way I always do and I like to think that over time that stuff gets sorted out."

Tavares describes himself as being "as driven as I've ever been."

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Why did Leafs management decide to bring back the core players? 

"The question you have to ask, and we did, is 'Does this make us better?'" Shanahan explained. "The answer at the end of those questions for each of those individual players was we're a better team with them on our team this year."

Despite all the familiar faces returning, there is definitely a different feel this camp with Berube replacing Sheldon Keefe, who was fired after a five-season run. 

"Changing your head coach and changing really almost the entire coaching staff I think can have a profound effect on a group," said Shanahan. 

"It will be a different system," Berube noted, "a different style of play where you'll notice the difference."

The new coach pointed out that Toronto's defence is now bigger thanks to the additions of Chris Tanev (6-foot-2), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (6-foot-2) and Jani Hakanpää (6-foot-7). 

"I think it's really important to have big D, get in the way, check, [be] hard at your net, penalty killing, all those sorts of things," Berube said. 

Treliving believes the new personnel will help improve a penalty-kill that ranked 23rd last season and was torched in the series against Boston. 

"We've improved our roster," Treliving said. "You don't hit grand slams every day. Sometimes you just have to keep hitting singles and doubles and picking away at your roster."

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For the second straight training camp, Nylander will start as a centre. 

"With his skillset, he can be a great transporter of the puck from our zone to the offensive zone," said Berube. "He's big. He's strong. He's skilled. Any time you can get somebody like that in the middle of the ice, I believe that's a real important piece."

Last year, the experiment lasted only two preseason games before Nylander shifted back to the right wing spot where he's spent most of his NHL career. 

"It's a little bit of an adjustment in D-zone," Nylander said during training camp last year. "It's just knowing the system a little better and when to jump and put pressure and when to maybe not put so much pressure  ... Maybe I get the puck a little bit more in the middle of the ice, but playing on the wing maybe I get more breakaways and stuff like that so it's a little give and take."

Berube also revealed that Max Domi will start on Nylander's line. Domi also started on Nylander's line last year. 

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Nylander's audition at centre last year ended when Fraser Minten emerged as a third-line option during training camp. Minten cracked the opening-night roster and got a four-game audition with the Leafs before being sent back to the Western Hockey League. 

But Minten's bid to crack the roster again was dealt a blow on Sunday when he suffered a high-ankle sprain during a rookie camp game in Montreal. There is no firm timeline for the 20-year-old's return, but Treliving noted it will be "weeks."

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Forward Connor Dewar will not start camp with the main group after undergoing summer shoulder surgery. 

"He's progressing and no setbacks," Treliving said, "but he won't be starting with us."

Dewar was spotted wearing a red no-contact sweater during the pre-camp workouts. 

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Treliving stressed that young players will be given every opportunity to crack the roster. 

"If he can help us win, I don't care if you're 18 or you're 38," the GM said. "We will make room for young players if young players can help us win."

Easton Cowan did a lot of winning in the Ontario Hockey League last season as he led the London Knights to a title en route to being named playoff MVP. The 5-foot-11 winger is now aiming to make the jump to the NHL. 

"The one thing watching the rookie games, this guy works," Berube observed. "He's a competitor. He's a very competitive player, but in the end he's got to be detailed. A lot of players coming out of junior hockey, they still have the junior habits and he needs to show us he doesn't have those junior habits any more."

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Players will skate in three groups at training camp with one group featuring players still in the developmental stage of their careers. That's where Hakanpää, who has not played since March due to a knee injury, will begin.

"Just to get him up to speed," Berube said. "Eventually we'll work him into Group A and Group B." 

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The first on-ice session of training camp is set for 9:30 am on Thursday at the Ford Performance Centre.