You can never start early enough to get a Maple Leafs prospect thinking like a National Hockey Leaguer.
For coach John Gruden, monitoring the first of a two-day Toronto’s rookie camp on Thursday ahead of weekend games against top recruits from the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, there’s nothing like a live-fire exercise.
Some takeaways for Gruden as the Leafs head to the Bell Centre in Montreal.
COWAN CORNER
Gruden could eventually see 2023’s top pick Easton Cowan as a full-time member of the AHL Marlies, but wants him taking full advantage of these two much-hyped matches as a springboard to main Leafs camp next week.
Mitch Marner’s departure will create a domino effect somewhere within right-wing depth.
“He was there last year (in Montreal) when they had 18,000 people in both games,” Gruden said of Cowan. “It’s pretty exciting for all those kids to understand how big of a deal that is. Then there’s the opportunity of playing in front of their fans. He thrived on it.
“(General manager Brad Treliving) has been talking about how important it is to have a good showing and want to set a good tone for the season. For the guys who haven’t been there, it’s there first time in front of (management and fans).
“We’re trying to get then to understand what’s expected.”
After slow progress, rebuilds in Montreal and Ottawa are paying off, heightening deep rivalries with Toronto. Cowan told the Sun last week the prospects already have talked among themselves that they “want to go in there and win, especially (against) the Canadiens.”
Cowan tentatively will be on a line with centre Jacob Quillan and Borya Valis, a Los Angeles-born WHLer from Prince George who got into three Marlie games last season.
The Leafs play Ottawa on Saturday at 1 p.m. and the Habs at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Winnipeg also has a team at the event.
NO TIME TO WASTE
Though some youngsters have been skating together at the Ford Centre for a few weeks, getting the tournament roster picked, deciding on lines, defensive pairs and the goaltending rotation is a rush job with just two practices for the tourney.
“It’s the first day of school,” Gruden said of Thursday’s workout. “The pace was good today, the first opportunity for a lot of these guys to get in front of the organization. They did a really good job bringing the juice.”
Power play and penalty killing will have to be in a blender this weekend.
“We’ll give them a bit of a (special teams’) touch-up tomorrow, so it’s not going to be the first time doing any reps,” Gruden said. “It’s an important part of the game because you know there will be penalties called (this weekend).”
As hard-nosed as the Leafs want to approach this weekend, Gruden and the Marlies’ staff running the show want to avoid injuries. They lost centre Fraser Minten to an ankle injury in Montreal last year, while defenceman Ben Danford was concussed before the club departed.
JACOB ON CUE
Quillan has one significant advantage on the other 14 forwards, nine defencemen and two goalies on the roster — his one NHL game played.
Yes, it was a short one in January — five minutes of ice time before a knee-on-knee collision with Senators’ Nick Cousins.
But his progress that led to the call-up was encouraging and, when Gruden checked in with the 6-foot-1 Nova Scotian in the summer, he went the motivational route, saying he hoped not to see him around the farm anymore, believing he can make the jump this year.
“He was definitely the most-improved player throughout the year,” Gruden said of Quillan’s 18 goals and 37 points in 67 AHL games. “It takes a while for a college kid who only plays 35 or 40 games a year (at Quinnipiac University between 2021-24) . He’s strong and can play in all situations. He ended up scoring some for us as well. His game is definitely trending upward.
“They’re here to try out for the Toronto Maple Leafs, not the Toronto Marlies. That’s their dream. At the end of the day, they want to have a good showing.
“Whatever it is after that, if (Quillan) has to come to us, we’ll just try and help him get to where he wants to.”
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