The Maple Leafs practised at Ford Performance Centre on Friday.
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Jack Roslovic is getting the first look on the right side of the top line beside centre Auston Matthews and left winger Matthew Knies at Leafs training camp.
Roslovic, who signed a two-year, $8-million contract in the summer, has a built-in chemistry with Matthews. They played together during their junior days at the USA Hockey National Team Development Program where they formed a dominant line with Matthew Tkachuk.
Tkachuk, of course, has already weighed in on the reunion.
“We used to call ourselves ‘The Superman Line’ in junior and he told us if we played against them and scored and did the Superman celly he was going to kill one of us,” Matthews revealed with a big smile.
Any chance Roslovic would do that?
“I don’t know,” the 29-year-old grinned. “Yeah, maybe. Maybe.”
Roslovic, Matthews and Tkachuk helped the United States win the gold medal at the 2015 Under-18 World Championship, which was the culmination of their time together. Matthews led the tournament in scoring and earned MVP honours.
“It was the Cam Newton era when he was ripping the jersey open,” Roslovic recalled. “It was jokes.”
The Leafs and Panthers don’t faceoff until Dec. 3. Before then, Roslovic has some work to do to secure a full-time role on a line with the Leafs captain.
The connection between players on a championship team tends to be strong and the friendship between Roslovic and Matthews remains that way all these years later.
“Going through the mud with somebody, learning about the game, finding yourself, that’s what you do at a young age,” Roslovic said. “And to be able to do that with somebody, it’s the hard times, the [grind] of things that really create really good bonds.”
“Those two years were so much fun,” said Matthews, who notes the two are now living close to each other in Toronto. “It’s pretty cool to reminisce on those times. It’s exciting to have him on the team here and to play with him and be around him again and hang out. He’s a blast to be around. He’s funny. He’s always got something on the go and a lot of conversations.”
Both players feel like the old chemistry is coming back quickly on the ice.
“It definitely feels that way,” Matthews said. “He’s a guy that talks a lot out there. Between me, him and Kniesy, we all skate and move well. Just trying to move pucks and get into open areas. I think it’s definitely coming along. It’s still, obviously, very early, but tomorrow will be a good test for us to get out there, get in a game situation and just play hockey.”
The Leafs open their pre-season schedule on Saturday night with a pair of split-squad games against the Montreal Canadiens. The Matthews line will be featured in the game at Scotiabank Arena.
“Yeah, we’re getting there,” Roslovic said of the line. “Obviously, I think the biggest thing is just the communication aspect. When you know somebody, when you have that comfortability of talking to them, that’s the biggest thing. As the ice sessions keep on going and games start happening, it’ll build.”
“He’s extremely skilled,” Matthews said. “I find he’s always got his head up. He skates well. He shoots the puck [and] can drive play with his speed. He’s good at holding onto pucks, finding the open guy and [we’re] just trying to read off each other a lot knowing where Kniesy is going to be most of the time.”
Roslovic hit the 20-goal mark in consecutive seasons, but needs to prove he can handle the tough matchups that the Matthews line is going to get on a nightly basis.
Head coach Jim Hiller is taking a wait-and-see approach with his top unit.
“When you play with Auston, you gotta be good both ways,” Hiller stressed. “You can’t just be a pure offensive player or just a checker. Jack and Matthew fit that bill, so now let’s just see where it goes.”
Getting Matthews going early is a big priority for the Leafs. The veteran of 10 NHL seasons posted career lows in goals (27) and points (53) while playing 60 games in an injury-shortened campaign last year as Toronto struggled to fill the void left behind by top-line winger Mitch Marner.
“I want to really let that line play tomorrow night, and I’ll watch it closely,” Hiller said. “That’s the line I’m most interested in.”
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Matthews has not played since March 12 when he sustained a Grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion courtesy a knee-on-knee hit by Radko Gudas.
“I just see him as really excited to play,” Hiller observed. “He’s got the puck a lot. He’s stopping on pucks, he’s lifting sticks, and he’s doing all the things that make him a special player.”
Hiller’s system and a different style of play may also help spark Matthews.
“A lot of skating here in practice, getting up and down the ice,” Matthews noted. “I think that’s been a big emphasis. We want to be a fast, hard-skating team on defence and offence. I think the more you track, strip pucks on the backcheck, it helps you produce a little more offence going the other way, so that’s been a big point of emphasis for him.”
Matthews registered 1.35 takeaways per game during the last two seasons when Craig Berube coached the Leafs. He averaged three takeaways per outing during the 2023-24 season when he scored 69 goals to claim a third career Rocket Richard Trophy.
The Leafs finished 16th in goals per game last season (3.07).
Hiller’s system in Toronto sounds like it will be more offence-oriented than the one he employed as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings.
“Well, I think the first thing you do is you look at the team and the players on the team, and there are some elite offensive forwards in particular and I think you have to let them play to their strengths,” the coach explained of his approach with the Leafs.
“And, with that, there’s a commitment to play without the puck that everybody has to make. It doesn’t matter what your talent level is, but when you have the puck and you have that type of elite offence, we’re going to give them some freedom and creativity to use those skills. So I hope we strike a balance. I hope we’re a hard team to play against without the puck. But I hope when we have it, we see some of that dynamicism that we do have up front.”
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Knies, who usually uses white tape, is trying out black so far at training camp.
“I like it, yeah,” he said. “I don’t know. It’s a change. I got bored of the white tape, so I thought I’d change it to something else.”
Knies is also hoping the conversation about him in the market will change. He heard a lot of trade rumours during the summer. What did the winger hear from new Leafs general manager John Chayka?
“He felt that I was a valuable piece here, and that’s kind of what I have to earn and show every day is just, you know, that I want to be here, that they need me here,” the 23-year-old said. “I just got to keep going with that mindset and hopefully that all works out and I can stay in the blue and white for a very long time.”
Knies produced a career high 66 points last season despite playing through a nagging knee injury, which he says is now feeling 100 per cent.
“No issues with it,” Knies stressed. “Yeah, it’s not going to be a problem this year.”
“He looks great,” Matthews said of his fellow Arizona native. “He’s fast. He skates well, but he’s got the skill, the hands, the shot and he can put it all together. I think for us to have success, he’s a big part of the line as far as winning battles, being in front of the net, and stuff like that, but obviously he’s got the skill to put the puck in the net and make plays as well.”
Matthews believes Knies, who is entering the second season of a six-year contract, will take on more of a leadership role with the team moving forward.
“He hasn’t even scratched the surface of his ceiling,” Matthews added. “He’s going to continue to get better and better.”
“I want to be a pretty reliable player on both sides of the puck,” Knies said. “And, yeah, I want to help produce, help create offence and support my linemates, make sure they’re having great games. I want to be, yeah, a really reliable player and just contribute in all ways I can.”
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Hiller is not planning to give Gavin McKenna a pep talk prior to his first NHL pre-season game.
“I’m not going to say anything to him. He’s going to talk to the guys. In the end, us as coaches are mentors and we guide them, but we got plenty of guys that have been through this. It means way more coming from them. I’m just going to tap him on the back and look him in the eye and shake his hand and say, ‘Go enjoy the night.’ There’ll be plenty of nights where we’ll demand more than that, but I don’t think tomorrow night should be one of them.”
Through the first couple days of camp, McKenna hasn’t shown any signs of nerves.
“He plays with a lot of confidence,” Matthews observed. “I think he’s come in right away and found his groove. You can tell when he’s on the ice and has the puck, the kind of skill, the plays that he can make. So that line seems to have meshed really well over the last few days just in the drills and practices.”
McKenna is slotting in on the second line beside John Tavares and William Nylander.
“Obviously three extremely talented and skilled players that all see the ice well, can move it, make plays and are dangerous one-on-one,” Matthews said. “So, to me, I think he’s fit in really well with those guys and fit in really well with the team so far and seems very comfortable and has the confidence that he knows he’s a great player and that he can play at this level too.”
“With John, he’s a workhorse and with Willy, he’s so skilled,” McKenna said. “I think, for me, it’s just trying to play my game and not trying to change things up. Just make my plays and try to get towards the net and pucks will find me with those types of players. It should be fun.”
Hiller was initially concerned that McKenna may defer too much to his older linemates, but the coach hasn’t seen that at all so far.
“He’s confident in his own way, certainly not cocky, but when he gets on the ice, like, he knows how good he is,” Hiller said. “I thought that might be a problem. I know you’re a good player, but this is the NHL and he’s not selfish, he just makes the right play when it needs to be played. Very impressive.”
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Morgan Rielly joined the main NHL group at training camp on Friday as he continues to work his way back from what Chayka described as a “viral condition.”
Rielly, a lefty, skated on the right side of the third pair beside Emil Andrae.
“That’s not where we envision that,” Hiller said. “We didn’t want to move things all over the place, so I wouldn’t read too much into exactly where he’s playing. I think he played on the right side today too, right? Yeah, no, you can skip that one for now.”
Rielly is not cleared to play yet and, as a result, was not available to the media.
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Hiller was asked how he’ll split the playing time between goalies Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz in the pre-season games.
“They’re going to play parts of both,” Hiller revealed. “I don’t know exactly how that’ll roll out, but they’ll definitely play parts of both. We’ve only got two games, so we’re still finalizing exactly what it looks like. I’ll save you the question. Bob will start at home tomorrow night. I don’t know how much of that game he’ll play, but he’ll start tomorrow.”
Bobrovsky’s first game action with the Leafs will come one day before his 38th birthday.
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Lines at Friday’s practice:
GROUP 1
Knies - Matthews - Roslovic
McKenna - Tavares - Nylander
Cowan - Paul - Sissons
Joshua - Blueger - Duhaime
Lorentz
Ekman-Larsson - Raddysh
McCabe - Tanev
Andrae - Rielly
Stecher - Blankenburg
Bobrovsky
Stolarz
Bonello
GROUP 2
Groulx - Koblar - Lettieri
Quillan - Haymes - Tverberg
Sim - Johnstone - Pezzetta
MacEwan - Rybinski - Brisson
Rifai - Myers
Mermis - McWard
Chadwick - Danford
Smith - Bilecki
Akhtyamov
Hlavaj
Bonello
