General Manager Lou Lamoriello meets with the media on the opening day of 2017 training camp.
At the end of your tenure in New Jersey, you did shift your position in the front office, albeit for a very brief time. Do you see the day you will desire a shift into another position here, or is being GM just something that gets you up in the morning and you want to do for a long time?
Lamoriello: I’ve known Pierre as long as anybody in this room. He keeps trying, and trying, and trying. I’ve got to give him a lot of credit for it. Next question.
Is there an internal competition between Matthews, Nylander and Marner as to who gets better and at what speed?
Lamoriello: If it is, we’re not aware of it. The three you’re talking about – I think you should add three more to that, whether it’s Hyman or Brown or Zaitsev. They all came in as young players. The respect they have for each other, the admiration they have when they see each and every one of them do something unique or different or unexpected, how happy they are… I think all you have to do is look at some of the bench shots last year of some of the players when things transpired out there — the smile on their face and the fun they’re having with each other, growing together.
And they want to win. They know how important it is to have a teammate who is talented and that the success of the teammate is going to make their success better. Whenever you have success, when you have team success, each and every player is better. I think they know that. They’ve been used to pressure. If you look at each and every one of their resumes as young players, they’ve won in the past. It’s not a new thing.
Was it like that with Stevens and Niedermayer and those guys?
Lamoriello: Without question. I couldn’t sit here and think of one situation where one thought that they didn’t depend upon the other. They depended on each other and wanted each to have success. All great teams have that. That’s the foundation.
Patrick Marleau is going to be the top paid forward on the team. In your eyes, what constitutes a successful season for him?
Lamoriello: First of all, it’s what the team has for success. That’s a successful season for him. It won’t matter – each and every individual – what they contribute as long as they’re contributing and the team has success. That is going to determine any one of our players’ success. You can take out individual statistics. I’ve said this – I’ve had the good fortune of having some good teams; teams that won. I don’t remember who the leading scorer was, but I know each and every player was on that Cup. I can remember players doing individual things who might not have played the next game. That is what it is all about. His success will be determined in team success, like each and every other player. All of us.
The group of young players that you have and the ones that are looking ready to make the jump to the NHL – how tough of a team to make are the Leafs right now?
Lamoriello: We certainly have team toughness. We have mental toughness, which is just as important as physical toughness. I like our team. If we thought there was a need for something, we would do that. We thought there was a need for it two years ago and we tried to handle it. Right now we feel very good about where we are at. If we thought that was a need, that would’ve been taken care of in the summer.
