Feb 9, 2017
Leafs say leadership has evolved since Phaneuf
The young Toronto Maple Leafs are thriving with a leadership-by-committee approach a year after former captain Dion Phaneuf was dealt to the Ottawa Senators.
TORONTO – One year ago, a small group of Maple Leafs players congregated in the early morning around the lobby of a Calgary hotel, waiting to say goodbye to their captain.
At around 10 a.m., EDT on Feb. 9, 2016, the team announced Dion Phaneuf had been traded to the Ottawa Senators, severing ties with the blueliner after nearly seven seasons in Toronto.
For the Leafs who remained, the sting of Phaneuf’s abrupt exit lingered long after he was gone.
“It was tough day for us to see him go,” said centre Tyler Bozak, reflecting on the trade Thursday. “We didn’t do our jobs good enough and we knew some changes were going to happen. That was definitely one guy in this room we didn’t want to see leave.”
The Maple Leafs’ 18th captain remains their last, with the organization opting to select four alternate captains – Morgan Rielly, Matt Hunwick, Leo Komarov and Bozak – for the 2016-17 season rather than name Phaneuf’s successor.
The young Maple Leafs have been thriving under the leadership-by-committee approach. Toronto has been buzzing in and out of playoff spot since the season’s halfway point, and sit third in the Atlantic Division heading into Thursday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.
They are also one of only two teams in their division with a positive goal differential (plus-seven).
The Maple Leafs were a 30th-place team the day Phaneuf was traded. An influx of talent and skill since has allowed Toronto to become vastly - even unexpectedly - better, so leading the group has become less challenging.
“We have a different team now. To look at the leadership now I think is harder because you’re looking at an apple and an orange,” head coach Mike Babcock said. “We’re way more talented, way quicker; we have a better team. Probably an easier group to be around. When you’re not very good and you’re losing a lot, that’s when leadership is really hard and [Dion] was fantastic.”
Life without Phaneuf forced the Maple Leafs to adapt. Filling that void with a leadership collective made a lot of sense inside a dressing room that started this season with almost as many new faces as old.
“Everyone leads their own way. Dion was a guy who was vocal and was able to take that on himself and I think in here now we have to work on that as a group,” Bozak said. “I don’t think we have one guy that’s ready for that. We just take it on as a committee and it’s been working well for us.”
Rielly became good friends with Phaneuf when he joined the team as a 19-year-old. Now 22, he's blossoming into an important leader who has embraced the opportunity to step up.
“[Dion] taught me how to be a good teammate, how to be a good pro,” Rielly said. “When he left, there was a group of us who had to take responsibility to take over. When you lose a guy like that, you just want to bridge the gap a little bit. We have a lot of good character guys in here, guys want to win here.”
Mitch Marner co-captained last season’s London Knights to a Memorial Cup championship. When Babcock talks about the team’s young core one day being its leaders, Marner more than fits the bill.
Even though he only has 52 NHL games on his resume, Marner says he feels encouraged to be a part of the conversation right now.
“I think that’s the special thing – our older guys don’t mind if younger guys speak up and say something,” he said. “It’s pretty nice having that kind of confidence and trust.”
“You don’t have to have a letter to be a leader in this room; we don’t have enough letters to go around,” added fellow rookie Zach Hyman. “We have guys who do their part, whether it’s talking in the room or leading by example. The older guys have taken the mantle and are showing us young guys around.”
It seems a foregone conclusion one of those young talents will soon join the exclusive club of players who’ve captained the Maple Leafs – but how soon remains a mystery.
“There will be a time where there will be a captain named for this team,” said veteran winger Matt Martin. “But [for now], everyone in the room needs to hold each other accountable and be able to speak up and speak freely when they want to.
“I have a pretty good idea of who I think will probably end up being the captain. But we’ll see.”
Morning skate notes:
• Recently claimed defenceman Alexey Marchenko is unlikely to make his Maple Leafs debut on Thursday. He was paired with Martin Marincin again in the morning skate, and that duo has been scratched the previous two games.
• Frederik Andersen will be back between the pipes Thursday after Curtis McElhinney backstopped Toronto to victory on Tuesday. Andersen has struggled since the All-Star break, posting an .847 save percentage in his last three starts and an .839 save percentage against St. Louis a week ago. “It hasn’t been good enough,” Babcock said of Andersen’s recent play. “But there are times in the year when you have little dips. [McElhinney] did a real good job for us last game, and Freddie goes tonight with an opportunity to bounce back.”
• Four of Toronto’s rookies appear in the top-five of major categories for rookie scoring – Mitch Marner leads all rookie skaters with 46 points, with Auston Matthews second at 44 and William Nylander fourth at 35. Matthews leads in goals (25) while Marner leads in assists (32), ahead of Nikita Zaitsev in fourth (22). But the competitive edge that has helped them on the ice hasn’t spread to the dressing room when it comes to rookie leaderboards. “It’s been a lot of fun actually this whole year,” Marner said of Toronto’s rookie class. “We’re just coming in here and pushing each other to get better every day.”