Muzzin focuses on having fun: 'Sometimes you put too much pressure on yourself'

The Maple Leafs held a skate (game group) and practice at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday. 

During a candid media session, Jake Muzzin opened up about his struggles last season. 

"I felt like we had a really good group and I wanted to be the best version of myself and sometimes you put too much pressure on yourself," the defenceman said. "It's not easy. It's a tough league. It's a lot of games and sometimes you can get a little lost and a little confused about what really makes you a good player."

The 33-year-old has a simple mindset to start this season. 

"Just get back to having fun," Muzzin said. "I was putting a lot of pressure on myself last year to be the perfect player and that's impossible. So, get back to having fun and enjoying the group and enjoying the team we have here and my play usually flourishes from that."

Muzzin, a Stanley Cup champion with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014, seemed to turn the corner in the playoffs. 

"He had a lot going on in his head last year," coach Sheldon Keefe noted. "Last season was a very important season for us and he took on a lot of that and I think it affected him. He came back [from injury at] playoff time with a much clearer head, really focused on just controlling what he can control and doing his thing on the ice and we saw the results. It appears to me Muzz is in a really good head space that way." 

Muzzin played with T.J. Brodie in the playoffs. He will be reunited with Justin Holl to start this season. That duo had a good run together a couple years ago, but struggled mightily at times last season. 

"Both guys, individually, weren't at their best last season for various reasons," said Keefe. "Both guys are just in a different place."

"We just got to get back to what makes us good," said Muzzin. "Being hard and physical and shutting down plays and moving the puck and letting the rest of the guys do the skill work."

Mentally, Muzzin certainly seems to be in a better spot. Physical questions, however, remain. He missed the start of camp due to back discomfort. Saturday will be his first and only exhibition action. 

"It's huge," he said. "It's something I wanted and I'm glad that everything's progressed the way it has ... Practice is one thing, but your timing on rushes and stuff like that in a game is important. Plays under pressure, stuff like that, reads, knowing what to do with the puck before you get it. Like, in practice sometimes everything's so structured where you know what you're doing and [games] you have to read and adapt to situations."

In the past, Muzzin felt he needed multiple games to get up to speed, but the bubble playoffs and pandemic-shortened season showed him that one game can be enough. 

"We'll get him in a game tonight, which will go a long way to not only preparing him to play next week but also just giving him the peace of mind that his body feels good and he's ready to play the season," said Keefe. 

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John Tavares took part in his first practice since being diagnosed with an oblique strain on Sept. 27. 

"I would love to be ready to go for Wednesday," the 32-year-old centre said. "But, at the same time, you got to look at the big picture: four games in six nights [to start the season] and we have an 82-game grind and, obviously, hopefully a two-month grind after that. So, just continue to hit my checkpoints day-by-day, get the feedback, and we'll just assess each day where I'm at."

Tavares suited up in Toronto's opening pre-season game on Sept. 24 and also took part in a practice on Sept. 26. 

"It was like a two-part injury," Tavares explained. "I took a cross-check [in the game]. It wasn't very hard, but it just kind of got me in the right spot. I was very sore and stiff, but just thought it was a little bit of soreness, first game in how many months, and you feel it a little bit more. So, just thought it was something like that and then partway through practice I felt something grab on me. I was able to complete practice, but was sore and got more progressively sore as the day went on."

Further testing revealed the strain. Tavares also sustained an oblique injury in 2019 when he was preparing for the World Championship. 

"Very different," he said. "That one took some time and I wasn't moving very well for a good couple weeks. This one just felt more like a bruise, like a contusion, the whole time. We noticed a strain on top of that. I was a little stiff for the first few days, but was able to get right back to the gym and not have to really go through the slow stages of diligent rehab. I was able to kind of get after things right away and progress is really good. We've been able to push it and get me to this point. I'm excited to be back on the ice and able to prepare myself. Being back out there with the group today is huge and goes a long way."

This is the first time Tavares has been felled by a significant injury during a training camp. It will cost him the chance to ramp up the intensity and get his timing back right away. 

"No doubt you lose that," the Leafs captain admits, "but I have to use my experience and what I have available to me to do the best I can to adapt and, also, knowing it's a long season."

Keefe says Tavares is expected to take part in practice on Monday although it might be in a non-contact capacity. 

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After logging 22 minutes and 32 seconds in his first pre-season game on Friday night, Rasmus Sandin was eager for more. 

"It was a lot of fun out there," the defenceman said. "I want to go out and play another game now."

Sandin will get his wish. He's back in the lineup on Saturday. The Leafs are looking to accelerate his conditioning after the 22-year-old Swede missed the start of training camp due to a contract stalemate. 

"It's not ideal, you know, coming off your first game to play again, but the situation is what it is and we're trying to make up for some lost time here," Keefe said. 

Sandin is expected to line up beside Mark Giordano. The pair practised together earlier this week. 

"It's been good," said Sandin. "He's that type of player that if you jump in with him right away, he makes it pretty easy for you."

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Up front, Denis Malgin and Adam Gaudette will also play again after suiting up in Detroit on Friday. Both players are on the bubble to make the team. 

"Actually, I'm not nervous," Malgin insisted. "I'm enjoying every day here and trying to do the best ... Feeling, actually, good. It's fun to play hockey."

Gaudette sustained a shoulder injury in his first pre-season game before returning to the lineup on Monday. He made a nice play to set up Toronto's opening goal on Friday. 

"I thought last night was his best night for us," noted Keefe. 

Gaudette and Malgin will play on a line with William Nylander. 

Nick Robertson and Pontus Holmberg will get the night off.

"Both guys have had excellent camps and have really shown well," said Keefe. "Those guys have played a lot of hockey in the prospect tournament, played a lot of hockey in this camp and we didn't think it was necessary for them to play in the back-to-back situation tonight."  

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Toronto will be debuting a new line on Saturday as Alex Kerfoot slots in beside Pierre Engvall and Calle Jarnkrok. 

"I can put them on the ice against anybody on the other team and I wouldn't worry about it," Keefe said. "But I do think there's good offensive potential there. That's where our group may differ from what we've looked like in the past." 

Engvall will be playing his first pre-season game after missing the start of camp due to a foot injury. 

David Kampf will skate between newcomers Zach Aston-Reese and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. 

"It's something we've really liked the look of and has the opportunity to be a line that can be really responsible defensively," said Keefe. "We all know how we used Kampf last season and I think with Aston-Reese and Aube-Kubel and their skill-set, there's great opportunity for them to be deployed in a similar manner."

Aston-Reese is at Leafs camp on a pro tryout. 

"I said at the start camp, I'm just here to do my job," Aston-Reese said after scoring a goal in Monday's pre-season win in Montreal. "My game's not flashy or sexy by any means. I don't think they're looking for that. Just playing solid, smart and consistent is the biggest thing. I'm not really letting it get to me."

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Most of Toronto's regulars will be in the lineup on Saturday, which is important for Keefe, who's also looking to get up to speed. 

"You are wanting to get a feel for the flow of the bench," Keefe said. "It is not going to be quite the same as the regular season, but you still want to get a flow for it in terms of the power play, the penalty kill, and how the bench flows in different situations — O-zone faceoffs and d-zone faceoffs. Getting the players all in the same game to kind of feel the flow of the game as it is in the regular season is probably the best thing for me as a coach."

The expectation for the players? 

"You want to look organized," Keefe said. "You want to look like you're playing hockey that is going to help you succeed in the regular season. We are going to play four games in six nights right out of the gate starting on Wednesday. I know it is not the regular season and the players know it is not, they want to get the conditioning elements, the timing elements, and most importantly, get out of the game healthy. You are managing all of that."

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Toronto's tight salary-cap situation will be a factor in the final roster decisions. 

"It's a factor, no doubt," Keefe said. "I've been in some meetings that I left pretty confused about a lot of the factors that are at play outside of the actual evaluation of the players. It is, without a doubt, a factor." 

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Projected Leafs lineup for Saturday's game: 

Bunting - Matthews - Marner 
Gaudette - Nylander - Malgin 
Engvall - Kerfoot - Jarnkrok 
Aston-Reese - Kampf - Aube-Kubel

Rielly - Brodie 
Muzzin - Holl
Giordano - Sandin 

Murray starts 
Samsonov