Sheldon Keefe knows what Mitch Marner is thinking when the Maple Leafs’ star winger makes eye contact on the bench.
“He gives you a little look over his shoulder wondering if he’s next or if he’s not, a ‘Why-aren’t-I’ kind of thing,” Keefe, the Leafs coach, said on Friday. “Those are the cues you look for from players, especially your best guys. You’re trying to gauge whether they are tired. Sometimes if they’re tired, they don’t want the next shift and they’re telling you by not giving you the eye contact, that they need a little bit more of a breather.
“When a players give you the eyes he’s telling you ‘I’m ready, so don’t slow this down anymore. Let’s get this going.’”
Does the 22-year-old Marner, whose energy seems boundless, get tired? Keefe wasn’t sure.
“It’s a great question, because it doesn’t appear that he does, frankly,” Keefe said. “He’s very smart with how he conserves his energy, seems to be in great shape and seems to be able to go forever, whether it’s the power-play minutes or the penalty-kill minutes. Sometimes they overlap and there’s not much downtime there for him, but he seems to be able to go.”
Keefe has been using his most talented players more often than Mike Babcock did and that strategy is providing positive results. In Marner’s case, the ice time has gone to 22 minutes a game from 19 minutes 39 seconds under Babcock (including the game against Philadelphia on Nov. 9 when Marner played 7 1/2 minutes before he was hurt).
Marner had 18 points in 18 games with Babcock as coach. With Keefe, Marner has 32 points in 22 games.
There’s more: Marner didn’t play for Keefe until Dec. 4, after recovering from an ankle injury. That night against the Colorado Avalanche, Marner had no points. In the 21 games since, Marner has had at least one point in all but two games.
Marner has put himself in some impressive company while producing under Keefe. In the same span, prior to games on Friday, only Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers, with 35 points, had more than Marner.
How much has the increased ice time helped in Marner’s production?
“A lot,” Marner said. “Being on the ice more, you get more opportunities to score and you get used to playing against certain people and find out their tendencies and I think it helps.
“There are times when (he gets tired), but I try to make sure that my conditioning throughout the year is always at the top level.”
TAVARES PEERS INWARD
Leafs captain John Tavares will be looking for a bit of a spark on Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators — from himself.
“Coming off the break, I haven’t maybe been as quite as sharp as I’d like to be feeling at times,” Tavares said. “I’ve done a lot of good things and had good stretches and just haven’t been able to finish plays off and be rewarded.”
Tavares was held without a point in Leafs wins in Nashville and Dallas after the bye week, but his lack of production goes back further. He had 11 points in a six-game stretch that ended on Jan. 2, but in the nine games since, Tavares has just five points. And three of those came in one game, against New Jersey on Jan. 14.
“Sometimes it’s the way it goes,” Tavares said. “Sometimes it’s just a bounce here or there and just finishing off some plays.”
Overall, Tavares’ output has slipped from what he accomplished last season, his first with the Leafs after signing a seven-year, $77-million US contract in July 2018.
After achieving career highs with 47 goals and 88 points, Tavares has 18 goals and 41 points in 44 games.
“Part of it is that he is playing with different linemates, not just now but even at the start of the year and didn’t get into much rhythm, like he had the season previous playing with Mitch and Zach (Hyman),” Keefe said. “Their injuries, his injury, all that sort of stuff disrupted his rhythm early.
“The reality is, there is only one puck, and we’re scoring a lot. The things that I’m more focused on with John is all the little things that he does. We’re trying to establish purpose with our play and he’s leading the way. It’s going to hit a point where some of our other guys we will cool off and he’ll heat up.”
LOOSE LEAFS
Contract talks between the Leafs and Jake Muzzin are expected to pick up steam, but as much as Muzzin enjoys playing in Toronto, we don’t get the idea the 30-year-old defenceman would settle for a contract that doesn’t make financial sense for him. Muzzin, heading for unrestricted free agency this summer, is in the final year of a five-year contract with an annual average value of $4 million … Defenceman Travis Dermott didn’t practise on Friday because he was sick, and Keefe was not sure whether Dermott will play against Ottawa. If not, Martin Marincin, who was partnered with Tyson Barrie at practice, will play … The Leafs recalled defenceman Kevin Gravel from the Toronto Marlies, but only to have another body on the ice at the Ford Performance Centre. Gravel, after practice, was loaned back to the Marlies.
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