Opinion | Marner and Matthews understand the urgency to win. They are not old, but they are no longer part of the nucleus of children.

Ask Mitch Marner for the highlights of a summer that started under a cloud of disappointment and leads you to an unforgettable July day in Muskoka.

There were some nerves. And champagne.

“I got engaged, so it was a really good one,” Marner said. “I also got engaged in a lake, so I thought I was going to drop the ring into the water. But it was good. “

Her pending nuptials to partner Steph Lachance are both an important life marker and a reminder of the passage of time. Once a peach-sided Toronto Maple Leafs alongside Auston Matthews, we’re no longer talking about the kids ushering in a new era for the NHL’s most championship-hungry franchise.

Speaking in a conference room on the second floor of Hotel X on Monday afternoon, there was a whisper of urgency in the air as Marner and Matthews took stock of the Leafs’ upcoming season while participating in the player media tour. of the league.

They weren’t squarely on “Last Dance” like GM Kyle Dubas has done in some recent interviews, and who can blame them? Marner and Matthews will each be 24 when the puck drops next month, with many productive years ahead.

But we’ve gotten to the point where very little about the Leaf situation can be taken for granted beyond 2021-22 and, fresh from a series of recent internal meetings, it’s clear that mature superstars understand what is. in Game.

“Obviously it’s not something (where I’m thinking). ‘Oh yeah, it will happen when it happens,’ “said Matthews. “We want it to happen. We believe that it will happen ”.

Given how the playoffs ended, with a 3-1 first-round series lead over Montreal wasted and with just one goal from the top line, it’s easy to forget the positive steps that came before. The North Division cable-to-cable crown, the Rocket Richard Trophy to Matthews after 41 goals in 52 games, and a 67-point season from Marner that was only eclipsed by Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Brad Marchand.

That’s why former Leafs forward Zach Hyman remembers the team’s fifth series loss in his last five attempts, calling it “the worst I’ve ever experienced in my career.”

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner were among the NHL's top scorers last year (Matthews won the Rocket Richard Trophy with the most goals), but the season ended with another initial round disappointment in the playoffs.

Marner absorbed most of the criticism after running his personal playoff streak to 18 games without a goal. The hardest shots came from social media and a fan base looking for someone to blame. He grew up as a Leafs fan, understands Leafs fans, and released an ad video on social media last week that ended with the song “I love you, I love you, I love you” as he scoured the Toronto skyline.

“I (knew about) growing up exactly what I was getting into and I wouldn’t choose it any other way,” Marner said.

And so these two generational Leafs find themselves trying to overcome an obstacle the size of a CN tower. It’s already clear that Matthews and Marner will completely rewrite the Leafs’ record book if they stick around long enough, and they’ll almost certainly amass enough personal hardware to fill a trophy case or two as well.

However, none of those results will come to define your time together.

“I won the Rocket last year, but obviously nobody cares about that because of how it all ended, right?” Matthews said. “For me, with good reason. I want to win. That is what I am here to do and that is what we want to do and that is what we think we are going to do.

“All of that is obviously fine, but in the end it’s about winning.”

Dubas is doubling down on the Core Four, choosing to keep nearly half his cap space at Matthews, Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander, but the need for results is clear.

Some comfort can be found in the fact that Matthews believes he will be ready for the regular season opener on October 13 against Montreal even though he still wears a splint on his left wrist after surgery in August: “ It feels good. I have a couple more weeks on this and will start skating this week, ”and he believes the minor off-season roster shakeup will benefit the group.

“I think sometimes having a change is good because it just brings you something new and something fresh that maybe you didn’t know you needed, or you didn’t know it would work as well as it ends up working.” he said.

The changes include a new left back in the coveted spot alongside Matthews and Marner on Hyman’s formerly held top line and an expected rearrangement of pieces in the top power play unit.

That, and one more layer of urgency for a core that has absorbed more playoff disappointment than he ever imagined it would experience.

“You look at other guys … Stevie Yzerman didn’t win until he was 30-something (Alex Ovechkin), they never got over the hump,” Matthews said. “I think it’s just because of where we play, it gets a bit overdramatized and that’s fine.

“But I think sometimes you will also have to put things in perspective, and realize that we are not between 30 and 30, but obviously it is not like we have all the time in the world.”

Time does not stand still for anyone, not even the young stars who once made the city stop.

Chris Johnston is a Toronto-based freelance journalist covering the NHL and the Toronto Maple Leafs for NordSar’s new gaming company. His work will also appear on Star. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterchris

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