Last summer, John Tavares got married, moved into a new place, and signed a big contract with his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. There were new teammates, new coaches, a new system, and new linemates to get used to.
"I felt like the whole year was a transition," he recalled, "just every point of the year was new and different for me and now I have a better sense of that ... just being very comfortable in your surroundings and your environment."
Despite all the change, Tavares didn't miss a beat last season, scoring a career-high 47 goals while matching up nightly against top lines.
"I never looked at it as ... about expectation and pressure," the centre said. "I just looked at it as a great opportunity. It's the reason I came here, I really felt there was so much potential for this group."
"He doesn't put too much pressure on himself," observed linemate Mitch Marner. "He doesn't put too much pressure on the team. He comes in every day and just expects everyone to come in and do the best they can."
"He wants to win more than he wants to score," said head coach Mike Babcock. "His commitment to play defence since he arrived here has been unbelievable and yet he still scored the most he's ever scored."
That consistent effort last season – Tavares didn't go more than two games without a point – thrust the 29-year-old to the top of the list of candidates for Toronto's captaincy.
"He's a pro," said Babcock. "So, his approach in the off-season, his approach in how he eats, the approach in how he drinks, the approach how he treats his family, the approach that he just is, so leadership to me isn't what you say, it's what you do. When you pick a captain for a franchise you want everyone in the franchise to think they picked the captain and when you pick the right captain everyone thinks that."
Tavares' process-oriented approach is similar to what general manager Kyle Dubas has been preaching since assuming the job in Toronto.
"Worrying about the specific results is kind of where you get in trouble," Tavares said, "and that's what I've learned from the past."
"His daily habits are so good," said Jason Spezza, who trains with Tavares in the summer. "His preparation is so good. He sticks to a process to get himself ready and when you do that it allows yourself to play well at big times, it doesn't matter where you're playing or what your situation is, so his consistency probably allowed him to handle that (pressure) as well as anyone."
Tavares seems unflappable whether he's doing countless interviews off the ice, dealing with opposing players on the ice or even having plastic snakes thrown at him during his return to Long Island last season.
"I trust who I am," Tavares said. "I always have a strong belief in that and I knew this would be a great opportunity to challenge myself."
"He's led in New York, he knows what it takes to take it past the first round," said Marner. "As a group, we look up to him, when he speaks everyone listens."
The captaincy, Tavares said, wouldn't be much of an adjustment even in the centre of the hockey universe.
"Just try and get a sense of things and how to handle the group and communicate certain things to the coaching staff and management," Tavares said of the role of a captain, which he filled for five seasons with the Islanders. "Talking to the media, setting the bus time, it’s not really overly a lot, it’s stuff you already have a pulse on, spearheading it a lot more than you usually would, I guess. So, it’s not all the sudden you got 10 more things on your plate. I think it’s just kind of being aware of everything that’s going on around the group."
Asked what his favourite part of playing at home was last season, Tavares can't pick just one.
"It was all just awesome," he said. "I just try to be myself and live my life the way I choose to live it and enjoy this whole experience."
Tavares, who became a first-time father on the eve of training camp this year, seems at ease in Toronto as he starts the second season of his seven-year deal.
"He's loosened up quite a bit," said Marner cracking a slight smile. "I think it helps when he sits beside me in both locker rooms and on the road constantly so I think he's gotten a lot looser than he did when he came in."
And it's worth noting that Tavares won't just be sitting beside Marner in the dressing room tonight when the Leafs play the Red Wings. He will also have Auston Matthews on his other side. Last season, Matthews was flanked by Patrick Marleau.
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The battle for the final forward spots on Toronto's roster is coming down to the wire as tonight Egor Korshkov and Nick Shore get a chance to audition on the fourth line alongside Frederik Gauthier. Babcock says he's still uncertain how Toronto's bottom-six group will look on opening night. Nic Petan, Dmytro Timashov, Matt Read (PTO) and Kenny Agostino are also in the mix.
"We're trying to figure out where all the pieces go," Babcock said. "We played Timashov and Petan last night a ton of minutes. We don't have the answers, we're trying to find them."
Spezza, who suited up with the NHL regulars on Wednesday, won't play tonight. Earlier in camp, Babcock wondered aloud whether the veteran centre would be a good fit in a reduced role, but warned reporters about reading too much into him being scratched tonight.
"You can write whatever you want," he bristled. "It will give you good entertainment for a day, but I wouldn't go there. I mean, you can, but (shrugs). I talked to him and I've talked to him the whole time, we're putting in Shore today, we're seeing what he can do.""I've talked lots with Mike," Spezza said with a smile. "I know exactly what's going on so we're good. I got a good practice in today and will get some rest and be ready to go."
How's the 36-year-old feeling as he starts his first season with his third NHL team?
"It's just getting familiar with the systems and making sure it's automatic," Spezza said of the adjustment. "Feeling pretty good. The last couple games things started to click a little bit more, me and Freddie had good chemistry and created some chances and practices have been going good and we're getting special teams down to groups now and it definitely helps getting into that kind of stuff and more teamwork."
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Toronto's top power-play unit is stacked with Morgan Rielly at the point, Matthews on the right flank, Marner on the left flank, Tavares in the middle and Andreas Johnsson in front, but don't expect the team to rely solely on one group.
"We want to have two dangerous units," said Babcock. "(Tyson) Barrie is an elite power-play guy, he doesn't want to watch the other clips, he wants to watch his clips. There's nothing worse than going to a power-play meeting and you don't see your power play. Get them both going. And the way we do it here is if you score you're going next and if you're playing better than the other one you're going next. It doesn't matter what your name is, who's going right here, right now? We think we have enough personnel that we should be able to get them both going. That's what we're hopeful of."
The second unit in practice this week featured Barrie at the point, Spezza on the left flank, William Nylander on the right, Alexander Kerfoot in the middle and Kasperi Kapanen in front.
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Lines at Leafs morning skate:
Johnsson - Matthews - Nylander
Kapanen - Tavares - Marner
Mikheyev - Kerfoot - Moore
Korshkov - Shore - Gauthier
Muzzin - Barrie
Rielly - Ceci
Gravel - Holl
Andersen
Hutchinson
Power play units at Leafs morning skate:
Rielly
Marner-Tavares-Matthews
Johnsson
Barrie
Kapanen-Kerfoot-Nylander
Korshkov