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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs. The team practised at the MasterCard Centre on Friday. 

During Friday’s practice, Mitch Marner passed the puck to John Tavares, who beat Garret Sparks with a wrist shot. It was an ordinary play in an ordinary drill. But the fun-loving Marner immediately flung his arms into the air in celebration. And he left one arm raised looking for a fist bump from his linemate. He skated all the way back to the neutral zone to find the mild-mannered Tavares, who looked up only briefly before finally touching gloves with the 21-year-old. 

“In the morning he’s pretty tired," Marner said while gazing over to the 28-year-old Tavares, who was slowly taking his equipment off at the next stall. “He doesn’t have a lot of energy and usually I’m bouncing around. He told me today that sometimes he wants to punch me, sometimes he loves me. For me, I just come here and be the Energizer Bunny and make sure I’m keeping him young.”

Tavares is as even-keeled as they come. So, how’s he liking the Marner experience? 

“It’s great for me,” he said with a big smile. “I think everyone knows I take things pretty seriously, especially around the rink and getting ready for practice or games. He kind of keeps things light. He just has fun and it’s hard to ever tell if he gets serious but, you know, he’s great for me that way, because he just lightens the mood.”

The chemistry between the pair has also been growing on the ice. On Wednesday, Marner danced around Jets defenders Dustin Byfuglien and Dmitry Kulikov to set up Tavares for a goal that stunted Winnipeg’s momentum in the third period and essentially sealed the win. 

"I kind of had a bad angle going to the net," Marner recalled. "I saw a little bit of an opening, a gap between the two d-men and lucky enough I got through and I knew John was behind me. I knew I couldn’t make a pass and I was on one leg so I knew the shot would be pretty bad, so I tried to place it off that pad and let John skate into it."

Yes, Marner meant to pass it off the pads of Connor Hellebuyck. That elite hockey IQ is one reason why during the free agent recruitment period Tavares told the Leafs he'd like to play with Marner. 

"To be the beneficiary on those plays, I mean, you can’t ask for much more than that," gushed Tavares. "He has such a great feel of when to make the move or understanding when a guy’s maybe pinching him off and taking his time and space away and how to get out of those situations, how to create more space or make a move like he did and that’s really what sets him apart as one of the best young players in the game."

There's also an element of fearlessness that Marner brings. It's one thing to know a play is available and quite another to put the puck through the legs of Byfuglien​, who is five inches taller and 85 pounds heavier than the Leafs winger. 

"He’s just one of those guys where he can stickhandle amongst the trees," head coach Mike Babcock said. 

That doesn't happen without a lot of self-belief. 

"He just knows he’s a good player," is how Babcock described it. 

"Growing up as a smaller guy you have that fearlessness of going into those corners," Marner explained. "I think you just kind of grow into it as you get older and older and know what you have to do to be successful."

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Connor McDavid leads all NHL forwards in average ice time this season logging 24:09 per game for the Edmonton Oilers. 

"That's absolute insanity," said Nazem Kadri. "I don't know how the kid's got the stamina for that. He's just a different breed so I think he can handle it for now. But as the year goes on, I mean, as a forward, to keep that pace is a lot to ask for." 

"He's a special breed, obviously," said Tavares. "If there's one guy who can be out of the norm it's probably him. But, at the same time, playing that amount of minutes, you know, at some point you'd like to think he has to conserve some type of energy."

Tavares knows what it's like to carry a heavy load for a team. He averaged 20 minutes a night for the Islanders over his first nine NHL seasons. So far this season he's averaging 18:33. If that pace is maintained it would be his lowest total since his rookie season. 

"It benefits me," Tavares said. "Sometimes you can almost be playing too much and especially the last couple years in New York, you know, we were down in a lot of games so there were a lot of times playing (a lot) late trying to tie it up, produce some offence. And when you're playing a lot of minutes, at times you can catch yourself conserving energy, which you don't want to be doing."

Toronto's depth down the middle allows Babcock to spread the minutes around. Auston Matthews is averaging 18:20 per game this season while Kadri is at 15:56. And that was certainly a factor Tavares considered before signing with the Leafs. 

"I thought it would make me a better player," Tavares said. "I knew I'd be playing a couple less minutes a night, but I knew I'd be playing at a higher level, higher pace of play ... when you feel fresh every shift and you're able to play at that higher intensity, with our skillets, I'd like to think we'll have more success."

Tavares said he's already feeling fresher in the third periods and expects the lighter workload to be even more of a boost later in the year. 

Earlier this week, Babcock laid out his ideal ice times for his top centres: Matthews and Tavares between 18 and 19 minutes a game and Kadri in the 16-minute range. On Friday, he specified that the goal for Matthews and Tavares is 26 shifts a night. 

"That’s how we’d like to play, because we want to play at as high a tempo as we can and we really believe with our Sport Science guys that that's the best way to go," Babcock explained. 

Tavares is averaging 23.8 shifts per game this season while Matthews is at 23.6. 

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Travis Dermott missed Wednesday's game due to an illness and was again unable to take the ice at Friday's practice. Babcock said the defenceman, who last skated with teammates on Tuesday, will be out "a while longer." Martin Marincin took Dermott's spot in Winnipeg and remained beside Igor Ozhiganov at practice. 

Ron Hainsey, who missed the last 12-plus minutes of Wednesday's game in Winnipeg with an undisclosed issue, was a full participant at practice and back in his usual spot beside Morgan Rielly. 

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Lines at Friday’s practice: 

Hyman-Tavares-Marner
Marleau-Matthews-Kapanen
Lindhom-Kadri-Brown
Ennis-Gauthier-Leivo
Johnsson

Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Marincin-Ozhiganov
Holl

Andersen
Sparks