With the National Hockey League season on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner is getting a chance to spend more time with his 11-month-old chocolate lab. The puppy, named Zeus, is helping Marner and his girlfriend stay active. 

"I got a bike​ downstairs," Marner said when asked how he's staying in shape during this unprecedented period of self-quarantine and social distancing. "I got some weights. I had my (personal) trainer send me workouts and my Leafs guys are sending workouts so I got both of those and then, lucky enough, we got a dog this past summer so we've been taking him for walks by a little river by us and it's pretty quiet, which is great. You get that fresh air and the sun you need to be happy and healthy ... He's a lab so he loves the water, loves anything to do with balls or retrieving things. We try and take him to the backyard when he gets all hyper and throw the ball around to him and let him run around and do his thing."​

Marner admits it's easy to sleep in right now but, again, Zeus is helping.

"Trying to get up around 9:30 and 10 o'clock most days (but) sometimes I sleep in a little bit more. We got that puppy so he's been pretty good at getting us up around 8:30-ish to go outside to the bathroom. We'll usually go back upstairs and try and get a little more sleep, but by that time you've been outside and it's a little cold out there so you wake yourself up a bit. His birthday is at end of May so he's been getting better. He's been letting us sleep in, actually, these last couple days."

Marner spoke with reporters on a conference call for about 20 minutes on Tuesday and while Zeus dominated part of the conversation, the 22-year-old star winger also touched on a variety of different topics, including Toronto's inconsistent season and his charitable efforts to help fight the pandemic. Here are the highlights.

Responsibility for the roller-coaster ride 

The final games before the March 12 pause were a microcosm of the Leafs performance since the calendar flipped to 2020. The team posted a resilient win on March 10 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, which came on the heels of a winless trip through California. Before the trip West, the Leafs had won three straight in the wake of an embarrassing home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes and emergency goalie David Ayres.

"The roller-coaster ride of the games, kind of being a coin flip of seeing how we were going to play, I think that's something I take a lot of responsibility for," Marner said, "trying to be a leader and trying to be a guy that goes out every night and tries to get their team ready to play."

Marner served as an alternate captain this season marking the first time he's worn a letter in the NHL.

"Obviously, nights like that are going to happen, but as frequently as they were happening for us isn't something we want to be known (for) or have keep going especially if the season does come back. That's something that our team knows we need to fix and during this break we can get a little reset and get back going and realize how good we can be."

As for his own season, Marner was producing ​1.14 points per game, tied with Auston Matthews for the team lead. That was basally the same output as last season when he averaged 1.15 points per game.

"Obviously, the ups and downs weren't great," Marner said of his personal performance. "The start of the season wasn't how I wanted to be and wanted to play, but I thought I started making my way back to my usual self kind of 10 games in or 15 games in or maybe a little less than that."

Marner credited the team's training staff for keeping him upbeat and getting him back on track after he missed 11 games with a high ankle sprain. Upon his return to the lineup on Dec. 4, Marner produced 49 points in 41 games.

Whatever it takes

If the NHL is able to resume play this season, it will almost certainly feature games in the summer and that's fine with Marner.

"Everyone wants hockey to return so whatever it takes to get this thing going everyone is willing to do it. The important thing, though, is making sure if it happens everyone's going to be healthy and everyone's going to stay healthy. You don't want to start the playoffs and then have something (come up) and possibly you have to shut that down for a little bit again."

Marner misses the daily grind, but isn't losing sight of the big picture.

"It definitely sucks. You miss going to the rink, you miss seeing the guys, hanging out with them, joking around and being in that area with them, but there's a lot bigger things going on in the world than going to the rink and playing hockey. So, however long it takes to get this COVID-19 finished and conquered, I think everyone is willing to do their part and put that ahead of whatever their job is."

Trusting his hands

Marner is focusing much of his time on staying fit and not skills work.

"I'm staying up to par conditioning-wise and kind of hoping, I guess, that my hands will come back when I grab a hockey stick again," he said. "But if things keep going like they're going, then I'll have to get a stick and net around the house and start shooting and stick handling."

On Tuesday, the NHL extended the self-quarantine recommendation for players and staff to April 30.

Marner is doing some activities to keep his hand-eye co-ordination sharp.

"I have a golf net in the backyard so I've just been hitting balls into that."

He's also staying engaged by watching hockey. Marner is entertained by the vintage games getting replaying and gets a chuckle out of how much hooking and hacking was once allowed.

He's also studying his own game.

"Trying to keep my mental state right," he said. "You watch clips back to see what you could've done better."

Doing his part

The last couple years, the Marner Assist Fund has held a summer event to raise funds for worthy causes, including the SickKids Foundation. But with so much uncertainty right now, Marner revealed they have discussed changing this year's event, scheduled for July 23-24, to a virtual format.

For now, Marner's focusing his charitable efforts on pandemic relief and helping those on the front lines of the crisis.

"We're trying to (help) police, firefighters, delivery services, any kind of services really, anyway possible we can help, to give them the right tools to stay healthy on the front lines and do their jobs as best as they can.

"The amount of courage it takes is unbelievable," Marner said. "Everyone who's risking their lives to keep the rest of us going, it’s a huge 'Thank you' to you."

The Leafs will continue their series of player conference calls on Thursday with winger Zach Hyman.