TORONTO — Of the two high-pedigree NHL players living at the Tavares’s High Park home, you can probably guess which one wakes up earliest.
“I have two alarm clocks,” smiles John Tavares.
Their names are Jace, 3, and Axton, 2, and they usually rouse Dad around 6:15 a.m.
Instead of waking the whole house up, though, Tavares is now trying to get his young boys to keep quiet to let the family’s billet sleep in just a little longer.
That would be 20-year-old Matthew Knies, the newest and youngest member of the Toronto Maple Leafs — and current couch-surfer at Hotel JT.
“Bedtime is a little earlier there,” Knies said wryly, when he explained his living situation to reporters at practice Sunday.
“He offered up his domain to me. I’ve been staying in his basement. I have my own little private area, so it’s been really nice. He’s been really welcoming. I’m just really happy that I can be around someone who has a ton of NHL experience. Someone I can learn from and take notes.
“I was excited. I didn’t want to be stuck in a hotel in my own little bubble.”
Tavares said the idea of opening his doors for the rookie sprung from a conversation with GM Kyle Dubas and a fondness the captain had for rooming with teammates Ryan Strome and Colin McDonald at various points during his New York Islanders tenure.
In fact, veteran star Doug Weight and his family welcomed a fresh-faced Tavares to live at his home when Tavares was new to the pro ranks.
“It’s kind of come full circle for me a little bit,” Tavares says. “I learned so much just being around him, his wife and his kids, and just what that dynamic was like. It was very eye-opening, Obviously, just being a teenager coming into the league and seeing the differences from junior hockey or, in (Knies’) case, college hockey, it was very impactful.
“A tremendous friendship was built between me and Doug, so a massive impact on me. So, if there’s a way I can do that for any of our young guys — especially the potential Matty’s going to have for us — the opportunity worked out well.”
As one might imagine, Tavares’s basement is spacious enough that Knies’s move was turnkey. Even better? His landlord lets him sleep extra before carpooling the kid to practice for 9:30, well in advance of Toronto’s typical noon practice time.
“It’s been awesome to have him show me around,” said an appreciative Knies, noting that other Leafs offered up their digs as well. “He’s pretty dialled in on what he eats, how he sleeps, how he shows up to the rink earlier than others.
“He’s not cutting corners.”
As for those alarm clocks on feet?
“Not too loud yet,” Knies smiled.
Leafs smartly scratching Knies
A wise move by Toronto to let its Hobey Baker finalist watch Game 1 from the press box and not rush him into action.
The Leafs’ fourth line has been excellent of late, and Zach Aston-Reese has worked all season for his shot.
Just because he won’t play Game 1 doesn’t mean Knies won’t get a taste of playoff action, however.
He’ll be an easy substitute when the Maple Leafs need an offensive jolt or suffer an injury up front during what they intend to be a deep run.
“(He) hasn’t even seen the ice at Scotiabank Arena, let alone skate on it,” coach Sheldon Keefe points out. “Another great option for us to have.”
An unflustered Knies is singing from the just-happy-to-be-here playbook. He knows his chance will come.
Push through the violence
A year ago at this time, following his final practice before go time, Sheldon Keefe predicted a “borderline violent” series against the Lightning.
Well, if last week’s fight- and scrum-filled tone-setter in Tampa is any indication, the Lightning will try to drag this sucker into the trenches.
The Lightning pace all playoff teams in penalties drawn (385) and rate second (to Florida) among the Sweat 16 in penalties taken (373). In short, they like to instigate, whistles be damned.
On Monday, Keefe downplayed that aspect of the competition as opposed to hyping it up.
“That stuff doesn’t bother us. Or guys are gonna stand our ground. And most important to me is that it doesn’t affect our play,” the coach said.
“You don’t shy away. You don’t get on your heels. I think we’re a team that’s gonna play on its toes and has got a lot of confidence in itself. None of that stuff’s gonna bother us. It’s important to keep the focus on what’s happening between the whistles.”
Power-play tweak bumps Nylander to second unit
It would be difficult to understate the importance of special teams in this series, as the No. 2- and No. 3-ranked power-plays get set to butt heads.
Toronto’s PP (26 per cent) edged out Tampa’s (25.4 per cent) in the regular season, but the Leafs’ power-play has a frustrating habit of growing cold when the stakes are highest.
Had the Leafs maintained their 27.3 per cent success at 5-on-4 in 2022, instead of dropping to 14.3, maybe they would’ve won that series.
So, it is of no small significance that Keefe has tweaked his personnel on the top unit, bumping William Nylander to the second group and giving Ryan O’Reilly a promotion to the main unit.
This was the format Toronto toyed with over its final four (meaningless) regular-season games; the club went six for 14 (42.9 per cent) over that small sample.
“We have a huge sample over multiple years with Willy with that [first] group, and we can go back to that at any time,” Keefe said. “I do think O’Reilly’s brought a lot to that group in the short time that he’s been there. The power play has done well and sort of got new life into it when we made that switch, and I think Willy’s played better since we’ve made that switch, too. So, all those kind of things don’t have me feeling like I need to go back to it here quite yet.”
Enticed by 40 goals, Nylander scored thrice while adding two assists and averaging six shots on net over those past four games.
“It gives us, I dunno, maybe some other options, some other looks that maybe Tampa hasn’t seen,” Nylander said. “So, we’ll see how that goes. I think both units will be buzzing.”
Tons of vowels, but there’s no ‘A’ in O’Reilly
O’Reilly doesn’t need to flaunt his 282-diamond Stanley Cup ring around the Maple Leafs room. Everyone knows the 2019 Conn Smythe winner’s résumé.
The new guy is vocal — “probably the most talkative guy on our bench,” Keefe notes — without carrying an ego. It’s a rare blend, and one his coach appreciates. Keefe is already comparing O’Reilly to dressing-room favourite Jason Spezza for his calming influence and inclusive, team-first approach.
“He’s just a very selfless guy,” said Keefe, who tried to stitch an ‘A’ on O’Reilly chest last Tuesday in Tampa while Matthews and Marner sat out the game for rest.
“He didn’t want it: I don’t need that. Give it to someone else. That’s the type of guy that he is.”
One-Timers: Ex-Leaf Rasmus Sandin, whose Washington Capitals didn’t make the tournament, was hanging around Ford Performance Centre Monday to say hi to the boys and pack up his stuff…. Toronto has a full shift’s worth of healthy scratches: Knies, Wayne Simmonds, Connor Timmins, Timothy Liljegren, and Erik Gustafsson…. Keefe on stacking O’Reilly on his second line as opposed to going three centres deep: “It’s obviously easy for me to adjust it the other way if I feel necessary.”… The injured Tanner Jeannot has returned to the ice in Tampa. He will not play Game 1 but has not been ruled out for Game 2. “What went from week to week has been trimmed down to day to day,” Jon Cooper told reporters.
Maple Leafs projected Game 1 lineup
Bunting – Matthews – Marner
Tavares – O’Reilly – Nylander
Kerfoot – Acciari – Järnkrok
Aston-Reese – Kämpf – Lafferty
McCabe – Brodie
Giordano – Holl
Rielly – Schenn
Samsonov starts
Woll
