Mitch Marner is hungry to make the Toronto Maple Leafs roster next season. His ability to maintain a healthy appetite and add pounds to his frame will be a key factor in determining if he achieves that goal.

As the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft, Marner headlined Toronto's class of undersized prospects. One year later, many of them are still battling against their size constraints.

“Sometimes, you just look at food [you used to like] and now you don’t want to eat it,” Marner said of plowing through his protein-heavy diet. “It’s always been [hard] putting on weight for me. [But] it could make a difference in where I’m playing next year.”

As the 41 invited prospects gathered for day two of Maple Leafs development camp in Niagara Falls, the size disparity between draft picks from 2015 and 2016 was on full display. Nine of the players Toronto selected last month were 6 feet or taller; in 2015, only three picks were that height or taller.

Piling on the pounds, while maintaining the high-end skill the team drafted them for, is a constant balancing act for the latter group.

“[Marner] and I hang out and people see us and go, ‘you guys are eating that much?’” said 2015 second-round pick Jeremy Bracco. “But for us, obviously being 5-foot-10, 5-foot-11, it’s not easy playing [in the NHL] at that height, so you’ve got to be a little bit thicker. Weight is a big thing for us.”

Marner, who’s 5-foot-11, said he’d like to get from his current weight of 163 pounds up to 170 by training camp, but is wary of how playing at 165 in the Ontario Hockey League made him feel like he’d lost some of his shiftiness. Development camps are designed to give players information and tools to succeed. Working with the team’s nutritionists is one element. Another is teaching players how to optimize their natural statures.

“There’s a lot of protecting the puck, first touches and getting off the wall,” Marner said. “That’s the main thing [today], make sure your first touch is electric and make sure you’re not getting trapped by defencemen. For a small guy like me, that’s going to be a big difference from the OHL to the NHL. In the OHL, you have a little more time to make plays but in the NHL guys are right on you right away, so getting off the wall and not getting stuck in there is going to be a big part of it.”

Dmytro Timashov, a fifth-round selection in 2015, is equally zeroed in on adding power to help get the most out of his 5-foot-10 frame.

“I think I’ve [gotten] much stronger, that’s what I’m working on the most,” he said. “Because I’m a smaller player I have to be a little bit extra stronger than everybody else. I have to go down lower to protect the puck. Strength will help me a lot. Getting good balance and working on my strength, that’s going to be my focus this summer.”

Timashov, signed to a three-year entry level deal with Toronto, is coming off a stellar season in North American and international play. After being traded from the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts to the Shawinigan Cataracts in January, Timashov tallied 32 points (four goals, 28 assists) in the regular season and 28 points (13 goals, 15 assists) on a playoff run that took Shawinigan to the QMJHL finals. They fell to fellow 2015 Leafs draftee Martins Dzierkals and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

Timashov also posted two goals and five assists in seven games for Sweden at the World Junior Championships where Sweden finished fourth after losing to fellow Maple Leafs prospect Auston Matthews and the U.S. in the bronze-medal game. 

“It was a good experience for me, playing against some of the best guys in my age and younger,” he said. “I’m happy I was there. It’s really competitive. It’s always fun to play against Team Canada and you always want to beat them the most and we did, so it was fun.”

In puck protection drills Tuesday, Dzierkals, a 5-foot-11 winger, stood out among his larger group mates for staying on top of the puck and using his frame to advantage.

“For sure, I’m learning to use [my size],” he said. “I tried to use it before, but here there are all kinds of new techniques that you can use and that they are teaching us. [Skating] is always the hardest part. If you’re a good skater, you’re going to play in a good level and you can always improve your skating.”

Coming off his first season in North American where he put up 67 points (24 goals, 43 assists) with the Huskies, Dzierkals helped the franchise earn its first ever President’s Cup title as QMJHL champions and advance to the Memorial Cup.

For Bracco, last season changed course quickly. Electing to leave Boston College after only five games, he went north to the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. The team’s coaches slotted him right into the lineup and he contributed 64 points (21 goals, 43 assists) in 49 games. The Rangers were swept in the playoffs by Marner’s London Knights, but Bracco isn’t looking back.

“I feel like I’ve really taken some steps forward [toward] the player I want to be and to hopefully be here someday,” he said. “I have no regrets on anything and I’m really happy.”

Knowing how cracking an NHL roster will be challenging at his size (5-foot-9), Bracco and most of his draft class will use whatever tools they are offered for a shot at wearing a Maple Leaf jersey full time.

“[Whenever] you can learn from [these coaches] it’s pretty special and pretty important especially for a young guy like myself,” he said. “Getting stronger is going to be a big thing for me getting to the next level, so any time I can be with the strength coach or [get] any insight on that to take home would be pretty special.”