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Mike Babcock on Auston Matthews: “I’ve never seen a young guy do it this quick, this fast”

Apr 25, 2017

Mike Babcock joined TSN Overdive and Prime Time Sports on Tuesday to discuss the 2016-17 season that was, the progress of Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner, the play of the veterans, the future of the team’s captaincy situation, and more.

A lot of the fans are feeling that the pain you felt is now over and there is nothing but good times from here on out.

Babcock: I think that’s you three talking about it, not the fans. This is what I’d tell you: The city is fired up and I don’t blame them. I would be, too. I actually think it was a good break for the media, too. They didn’t have to carve us. They were able to write honest stories that were positive. I think you get tired of the team being not good enough. You want them to be good. You’re covering this team every single day. It’s good for the hockey world for the team to be good. I think the team is vastly improved. I don’t think we are at the point where we want to be where when the puck drops in September you know you are in the playoffs. We are not at that point. We don’t have enough depth yet. In saying that, we’re going in the right direction. We’re just going to stay the course with our plan and keep adding pieces as best as we possibly can so we have the depth to do it year after year.

In which areas and how do you hope to improve going into next season?

Babcock: Obviously, players. I like what we did last year with our goaltender. I really liked the fact that you come to the rink each day and you know what goalie is going to start. Even if the goalie doesn’t play good, you know what goalie is playing the next game. I think that’s a great settling factor for our team and for our organization. Now, obviously, we feel we need more, both up front and on the backend. We’re going to go looking after that.

You talked about your group having a good summer as far as working out. Is that some of your younger guys just committing to being pros and getting that man strength so they win those battles in the corner?

Babcock: For sure. A 19-year-old kid that is 200 pounds is not nearly as strong as a 30-year-old man who is 200 pounds in terms of their heaviness on the puck and their battle level to keep it. We’ve got to become a heavier team and a lot of that is going to happen this summer by getting to work. We’ve got a great sports science group there. We need to get to work. The other thing is, guys who come from other organizations and aren’t used to the way you go about things… some guys have got to get quicker. There is a lot of explosive work that has to take place. We’ve got a young enough group that there is still a lot of development. Guys, in today’s game, spend the summer getting better. They pick something and they get better, whether that be their shooting or their puck handling or their skating. It is important we take steps here this summer.

You mentioned that about Auston Matthews today. Obviously, he had an incredible year. We’d all agree he is a lock for the Calder. Just a special player, but you said today he’s got to improve. In which ways are you hoping he can and will improve this summer?

Babcock: I thought one of the biggest things that happened to Matty this year is his pace through the neutral zone. When I watched him prior, his pace through the neutral zone wasn’t like it is now. The second thing is his ability to play without the puck so that he has it all the time. I’ve never seen a young guy do it this quick, this fast. The thing I really liked about playoff time for him: The physicality in his game, and not necessarily just on defence to get it back, but on offense and his heaviness on the puck and his ability to separate someone from the puck quickly defensively so he can get back on offense. I think the guy is a sponge. He is learning all the time. It’s amazing to me. His leadership skills are so good because it’s not what he says, it’s how hard he works every day and how much fun he has. And he has got a great ability to evaluate himself. He’s an impressive guy.

Expectations could not have been higher for him, going first overall in a city like this. He handled it incredibly well from the outside, but you were there with him every day. Considering what your expectation was coming into the season, how do you think Matthews handled the spotlight in Toronto?

Babcock: I think he’s fantastic. That’s what I like about him. He’s humble. He’s smart. He comes from great parents. When you see him the first time around his parents, you’re pumped because he’s got that much respect. Respect, to me, is something you learn. He’s that way with his teammates, he’s that way with his staff. I think he is real approachable to the media and the fans. I thought he was excellent, but he is business-like. He’s not about goofing off. He’s about the game and being the best he can possibly be.

How impressed are you with William Nylander and how he progressed this year? He had some inconsistencies and you said he had to work away from the puck to get it back. Coming down the stretch and into the playoffs, he was fantastic.

Babcock: I agree with you. I think that might be the biggest difference in any one player this year just because of his competitiveness. Willy is a gifted, gifted guy and he is a great kid, but that intensity you need every shift sometimes is not as good for him. He has really come a long way. The other thing is, when you’re as gifted as he is, you didn’t have to do it before. It didn’t matter. To play in the NHL, and to be as good as he wants to be, you’ve got to compete every second of every shift. Willy learned a lot this year at playoff time, too. When you’re out there and the puck goes in your net and you’re not standing in the right spot, it hurts. Sometimes those wounds last a long time but they usually make you remember and you end up doing things right.

You were asked about Nylander playing center today and you said that won’t happen next year. If it’s not going to happen next year, how do you envision that transition working out in the future, getting Nylander to the center of the ice?

Babcock: What happened already is suddenly in the playoffs he took the right-hand draws and Matty look the left-hand draws. He was good in the faceoff circle. We didn’t let that happen at the start. He just graduated into doing that. The way we’re set up right now, with the three centers, I don’t need a center right now to get him the amount of minutes he needs to get. He’s got better opportunity to play the amount of minutes he needs in offensive situations playing on the wall, at least through next year.

Clearly, Mitch Marner had a spectacular year. His playoff, though, wasn’t necessarily reflective of how he played during the regular season. What do you hope he learned through those six games?

Babcock: I think the thing that happened to Mitchy most is when he got sick there. He got mono there and that I thought knocked him back. It took him a while to get the same pop back in him. You kind of lose a bit of swagger and then the playoffs come and you’ve got no room. I thought Game 6 in the third period was as good as he’s been in the playoffs. I thought he had good pop and good energy. Mitchy loves hockey, he absolutely loves hockey. He goes about it in a positive way. He is a worker. He has great sense and competitiveness. This is a big summer for him. He’s going to get a lot stronger. He’s grown a lot since we drafted him. He’s a way taller kid than he was. Over time, he is going to put on some more meat. He is never going to be a heavy guy or a big guy, but he’s going to be a lot stronger. He already, pound for pound, is very strong, but he can get much stronger.

You mentioned a similar sentiment for Nazem Kadri today and the expectation for him to get stronger and keep growing this summer. He had 32 goals this year, a career-high for him, but a lot of guys would define him as a shutdown guy or a pest guy who gets in the head of the opposition. How would you define his role? Is he more skill? Is he more pest or shut down? How would you break down what you hope to see out of Kadri going forward?

Babcock: He’s got great edges. He’s got good offensive skill. We moved him from the half wall to the man in the middle on the power play and it really helped. He doesn’t have a big shot, but he has courage and he finds the loose pucks and he can get it in the back of the net. That helps him score. He relishes playing against the best guys. For Naz to be as good as he’s capable of being… I consider Naz, same with van Riemsdyk too, young in their development. They can still get better. Naz really committed to fitness last summer. We need him to do it again and find another level. If you’re going to play head to head in a series against Backstrom for six or seven games, and you want to win in the end, you’ve got to be able to outdo that guy. He needs another level there. We’ve talked about that. He knows that now, too. Until you live it and you understand it, I don’t think you can really know. He’s committed to doing that for himself, obviously, and that’s a big situation for the Leafs as well.

The vets who had career years — how can they improve on that? How can you expect those guys who hit the marks that they haven’t hit before to grow on that? Is that a reasonable expectation?

Babcock: What you’re asking me is can they be better and not have as good stats? I sure think so. I’m not as concerned about the 32 goals as I am about how you approach it and how dominant you are when you’re on the ice and how much better you can get in the faceoff circle and how much better you can check. Can he get 32 goals again? Absolutely, but that to me is not going to be how I measure it. When I look at those guys, I thought Bozak got better and better and better defensively this year. I thought he was a more complete player. He can do it again, for sure. JVR got better on the cycle. James got way stronger last summer and he’s committed to doing it again. He’s put on unbelievable leg power over the last year and a half, and he can still do more. These guys are trying hard. I’ve got to give them a lot of credit. We’ve asked them to work and they’ve done the work. They’re reaping the benefits. I think there are a lot of pretty motivated guys.

A lot of focal point for a lot of people going into the offseason is the captaincy and the vacancy when it comes to that position or that role. You said today it wasn’t a priority at this point, and Lou reiterated the same thing. You’ve been in the league for a long time. It feels like the importance of a captain and the role of a captain has maybe changed and evolved over the years. How has the importance of having a captain changed from when you first got into the league to where you are today?

Babcock: We’re going to have a captain. I just don’t know when we’re going to have one. We want to do that at the right time. The second thing I would say to you is our leadership group… I like our guys on our team, but we’re also trying to get more young guys involved in that as best as we possibly can and grow our group together. I think it’s important that every guy is a leader in his own way and does his own thing. We try to create as much accountability as we can, coach to player and player to coach and player to player. I think the group has done a pretty good job of that. I saw as the year went on they got more and more committed to doing things right, and to me that is a big part of your leadership group: Demanding it from one another.

How much added pressure would come with being a captain in Toronto?

Babcock: That’s a great question because I don’t know the answer to that. I know that Dion Phaneuf took a beating here and in my opinion, once I got to know Dion, it wasn’t fair to him. I’m cognizant that has happened, and that’s what I like about what is going on right now.

The captaincy is about the room and the players. Would it be a situation where you would allow the other players to vote on it, or would it be yourself and Lou and Brendan making that call?

Babcock: I never really thought about it. We haven’t discussed that part of it, to tell you the truth. We’ve just discussed more about when it would happen. We don’t spend much time on it. Lou and I spent one minute on it today. That is the first time we’ve talked about it since last year.

How close do you think you came to knocking the Capitals out?

Babcock: All of us now would say it was close. What I would say to you, when push came to shove in Game 6 in the building and it was all on the line for us, they pushed harder than we did. I think we made it tight. I think we made it hard on them. In the end, you’ve got to win some of those games. We were in a good spot after Game 3 and they were in a better spot after Game 6. So, they got it done.

If there was a reason they got it done, certainly they had a little more depth and maybe a little more strength and size that, when the call the game the way they do in the playoffs, gave them a bit of an edge. If you agree, do you think that is something your team has to add?

Babcock: I think we’re going to add it just by guys weight training in the summer. We’ve got a whole bunch of kids and kids aren’t man strong. But I also thought losing Polak was a big blow to us on our penalty kill and the size of man he is. He’s 238, he can clear pucks, he’s a heavy guy, and we’re a little light on the backend. I thought that showed for sure. Our forwards alone – there is going to be a lot of growth just by going to the gym this summer just because they are that young.

How much of a difference is it for you to coach this kind of team as opposed to the veteran teams in Detroit?

Babcock: Totally different, but in saying that, it is the same… you’re still trying to get them to play and maximize their ability. I really enjoyed this. I coached college a long time. I coached major junior. I enjoyed the guys this year. We had a great group in the room. Our locker room was tight. The guys played hard and held each other accountable. We had a good group of people in there. I thought that was one of the best things about this year’s team – the quality of people we had in that room.

You were widely quoted as predicting pain when you came in as the coach, and there was pain last year. This year, for fans, they didn’t find it painful at all. Are you at all surprised the pain didn’t last longer?

Babcock: I had no idea we were getting Auston Matthews. I had no idea Mitch could do what he did. I didn’t know Zaitsev could be this good. So right away that changed a lot of things. But the play of Connor Brown, the play of Zach Hyman… I mean, the growth of Gardiner. There were so many different things we could talk about. Everybody talks about Mitch and Willy and Matthews all the time, but there is a whole lot more than that going on. The growth of Nazem Kadri… there are so many things that made this happen quicker than you could’ve anticipated.

On the play of the veterans, Kadri and Gardiner:

Babcock: I think Gards is a real, real hockey player. He’s got high hockey IQ. He’s got ice in his veins. He does some things where you wonder what the heck he’s doing. But he always gets the puck out of his zone. When he arrived, we just talked to him. Talked to him every day and let him play and kept putting him back out there. I thought his game really came along last year but it’s coming like a landslide now. He can play against the best players.

Nazem Kadri we just pushed to get better. Naz is one of those guys who doesn’t mind being pushed. He has good ability. He got in shape last summer. He needs to take another step that way. Naz likes his role, has embraced it, has gotten better. I think the goals are the bonus from being the man on the middle on the power play, but he’s still got good skill. He’s a mean guy. He likes to compete. I think he has a lot of upside yet. I don’t think he’s tapped out. I’m not saying he’s scoring 32 goals every year, but his play can definitely get better.

On whether he’d like to win the Jack Adams this year for the first time:

Babcock: That’s not a question for me, really. This is what I like: People have enough respect for me to hire me and keep me on for long periods of time so my family got to live in one spot. Shanny gave me a good opportunity to come here and I love the opportunity here. The city is spectacular. The fans are great. The organization is great. This is what I’d tell you: The coach of the year carries that silver Cup around and he gets to take it back to share with his friends. I’ve only gotten to do that one time. I’d like to get my name on that Cup again. I really would. I’d like to share it with the city of Toronto. That is what our group is trying to do here. I think we’re going in the right direction.

On Toronto as the center of the hockey universe:

Babcock: I don’t know if I’ve said it’s the center of the hockey universe, but this is what I would say to you: If you’re a player with any nerve at all, and you love the hockey environment, you want to come here. I’ve never seen or felt anything like this. That young gal – Martina – that sings the national anthem for us, I was even worried she was getting the guys too fired up. The building is shaking. During some of the stoppages, you wish the crowd would be quiet to settle the guys down. When you walk in and you see the people lined up all over, or anywhere you walk in the town, the people want the Leafs to be good. We want the Leafs to be good. I think it’s spectacular. Is there scrutiny when you don’t play good? Sure. There should be. So what? Play good.

On the value of the playoff experience and acquiring Brian Boyle at the deadline:

Babcock: I thought it was worth it, and I don’t like trading picks. I thought it was worth it because I thought it could push us one year ahead if we got in. Now, would it have been the end of the world if we didn’t get in? No. In saying that, to get in and play a great team like Washington with good players… for our players to see Ovechkin, who is now 31 and has been in the league a long time, and he still hasn’t gotten his name on the Cup, it shows you how hard it is to get your name on it. I think that is a great message for our group.

On whether this team is ready to play the style he wants:

Babcock: We want to have the puck more for sure. I think the better our backend gets, the more we’re going to have the puck. The stronger these guys get, the more we’re going to have the puck. It’s way more fun to play the game with the puck. I think we want to play a fast game and we want to play an exciting game, but want to have the puck. Lou and Shanny and myself, and Kyle and Hunts, all talk about this. We need more players and we’re going to get them.