On the Friday scrimmage at development camp
Babcock: Oh, you know, kids. Lots of enthusiasm, obviously. They haven’t been playing; just been doing drills. I thought they got better as they went on. We’ll get another chance to see them all tomorrow. Most of these guys are on their way back to junior or to college, or wherever they’re at. We’ll see if they turn into players.
In a development camp like, this what do you look at to evaluate?
Babcock: I don’t. We had a good day in mental health yesterday. The nutrition part of things, the strength training part of things. Handling [the media] and treating people right. Those are things that are really important. Obviously if they can fix some of the other things up this week, that’s great. It gives us a quick look at it, but I it’s kids hockey in the summer. I’ve always found over the years in summer camps, even when I was picking junior teams, that’s where you make your most mistakes. We’ll figure that out in the fall.
This is kind of a teaching tool, then?
Babcock: I think that’s what it’s all about. You’re trying to set your people up for success. If you’re trying to evaluate players, you play every single day and watch them.
You saw Mitch Marner on the wing here. He’s been on the wing all year. There was talk of him being a center. Do you see him and maybe William Nylander on the wing in training camp?
Babcock: Willy, I’m going to put him and Matthews together and they can work that out. He’ll end up on the right side quite a bit, but I’d imagine he’ll take right-side faceoffs too. As far as Marner goes, we’re going to play him on the wing for sure.
Are there subtleties to Mitch Marner’s game, especially the goal today with how all that started and how he sees the ice?
Babcock: Obvously he’s a real gifted player. You don’t do what he’s been able to do without having a lot of hockey sense and ability to see the ice. For him, and Matthews and these guys, once you get them with men and you start seeing them every day, then you’ll be able to evaluate where they’re at. Like I said, this is a summer thing.
