Leafs: Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly Keys to the Future

Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and Morgan Rielly appear to be the perfect building blocks towards a Stanley Cup for the Toronto Maple Leafs early on.

It’s just two games into the Toronto Maples Leafs‘ regular season and the speed and tenacity of the youngsters have been extremely impressive. Standing out from the crowd, and I mean really standing out, have been Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and Morgan Rielly. (Also, a special mention to William Nylander and Zach Hyman, who have looked solid on Matthews’ line.)

So while there are many young buds who have played well in the first couple of games, those three look to be undoubtedly the future of the franchise. The Leafs have made this obvious over the past two seasons with new management and coaching staff, but to visually see success in the first two regular season NHL games brings validation to a fan base that had once lost hope.

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For every championship roster, superstars are required to build the team around. Also required are role players and great goaltending. While the Leafs are still a long way from being a championship team, the pieces are certainly there to build from, starting with Matthews.

There was some debate this summer on who the Leafs should take first overall, Matthews or Patrik Laine, and early on the decision to take number 34 was the correct one. Ultimately though, it won’t actually matter who ends up being better in the long run for Toronto, as long as Matthews can help in winning the Stanley Cup.

The California native has yet to feel the wrath of winter, but has shown the wrath of his offensive abilities with four goals in his first NHL game. He is the first player to ever score four times in his rookie debut.

He is just 19 years of age, 6’2, and weighs 210 Ibs. That is some pretty good size for a kid who is still growing. He reminds me of Eric Lindros, not quite as tall but with even better hands and more speed. He isn’t quite as heavy yet, but by the time he is 23, he should be right around 230 Ibs, the weight of the Big E.

It seems like Matthews wins nearly every puck battle around the boards. He’s also very slick and creative with the puck, with an ability to put it through the legs or around the defender. He’s quick to pivot in the corners too. When combining great hands, size, and speed with a high hockey IQ, it’s no wonder he is already shining on the big stage.

Take his second goal of the season for example, where he deked the pants out of two Senators, then lifted Erik Karlsson‘s stick to regain control of the puck and have the presence of mind to shoot low glove side to slide it in at a bad angle.

Then you have the speedy Marner, who you can’t help but notice every time he is on the ice. He’s been a magician with the puck and could have four goals himself rather than just the one after two games.

Mitch is just 5’11 and 160 Ibs, but he is also just 19. The Markham native should grow a bit more, but this is one guy where the phrase good things come in small packages holds true.

If you’ve watched the first two games, you’ll notice the puck sticks to his stick like a magnet. His craftiness has generated chance after chance, resulting in 10 shots of his own and multiple chances for his linemates, Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk.

His first NHL goal came against Boston, where he made a one touch pass to himself, behind his back, between his legs to his forehand without losing speed and came down the right wing firing the puck low blocker side. This is just one sample of his incredibly soft hands.

Finally, there is Reilly, who has been acclaimed as the main building block of the franchise. He’s a 22-year old offensive defencemen who has upped his output with each season, but this year expectations are much higher than they’ve been in the past.

So the fact he’s started the season with two points and a +3 rating without taking a single penalty is a really good sign.

He went coast-to-coast to set up Matthews on his third goal in the season opener. It was a seeing eye pass that went through multiple players and found the tape of Matthews who had a wide open net. He tallied another assist on a heads up shot-pass to Milan Michalek for an easy deflection into the open cage.

One assist was a result of his speed and craftiness with the puck. The other was due to an ability to recognize the situation and capitalize with a deceptive shot-pass that was released quickly. It requires a high hockey IQ to understand that a quick but slower wrist or snap shot can be more effective than a slap shot with a big windup.

All three of these youngsters appear to be the perfect building blocks towards a Stanley Cup early on, but it is still just two games into the season. The Leafs have some really difficult opponents they are going to be tested against as the season continues, so it’s definitely too soon to get hopes too high for the second-youngest team in the NHL.

However, it’s very pleasant to see the rebuild that has been underway for a couple of years is going according to plan and exceeding expectations early on. It’s started off the 2016-17 campaign with a huge bang and there is no reason the city of Toronto can’t get just a bit excited. Leafs fans have been waiting since 1967 after all.

Next: Can Seth Griffith help the Leafs?

What do you think about the youth of the Leafs? Do you believe they have the right guys to build a Stanley Cup Champion? Leave your comments below.