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Top pick Auston Matthews brings hope -- and high expectations -- to long-suffering Maple Leafs
— -- BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Watching Auston Matthews slip on a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey for the first time, after being taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft on Friday night, it's hard not to wonder at the enormity of it all.
So many hopes, so many possibilities heaped on the shoulders of such a young man. How can one 18-year-old possibly fulfill all of them?
And then you talk to people who know Matthews, who have seen him play and grow and evolve. And you think that perhaps the better question is: How can he not fulfill all of those possibilities?
Like Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh, Alexander Ovechkin in Washington, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews in Chicago, and, more recently, Connor McDavid in Edmonton, Matthews is that once-in-a-generation prospect capable of raising up a moribund franchise and banishing decades of futility and angst in the blink of an eye.
That is certainly the hope of long-suffering Maple Leafs fans, many of whom made the two-hour drive to First Niagara Center to hear Matthews' name called first on Friday night, waving banners and cheering loudly as Matthews made his way to the stage.
"I think they should be very excited," said Marc Crawford, who coached Matthews last season in Zurich in the Swiss elite league. "He's the real deal. People will be impressed by his humility. They will be impressed with his professionalism, but mostly I think they'll be impressed by his talent."
Fans in Toronto have waited a long time for something good to happen to the franchise, said longtime NHL player and noted national analyst Ray Ferraro not long before Toronto director of player personnel Mark Hunter called Matthews' name to kick off the 2016 draft. "I don't think there's any way to be prepared for how much attention he's going to get, but he's had a pile of attention the last few years," Ferraro said.
In some ways there are two parts to Matthews' story. There is the player he is and the kind of player he might -- no, scratch that, should -- become.
Ferraro has seen Matthews play 25 games or so during international competitions the past couple of years.
He describes the center's compete level, his explosive shot and his already-imposing physical strength and recalls a turnover that led to a goal against Matthews' U.S. squad at the world junior championships. The next shift, as though embarrassed, Matthews dominated, Ferraro said.
"I loved that shift," Ferraro said.
It's not a question of whether Matthews will make the Leafs out of camp next fall, but rather what he will do when he does.
"Without a doubt he'll be able to step in right away," said longtime NHL GM George McPhee. "He'll be a legitimate No. 1 center in the league."
It won't matter the situation. On both sides of the puck, and both ends of the ice, McPhee said, Matthews will make his mark. "He's a player with all the tools," he said.
New Jersey Devils coach John Hynes coached Matthews with Team USA at the world championships this past spring. He did not know what to expect but came away wildly impressed by the young center.
"Just his ability to play in the hard areas of the ice, where a lot of times you see [with] younger, high-skilled players, that it's the part of their game that needs a little bit of time," Hynes said.
Hynes, like most others, believes Matthews will not just play in the NHL as a teenager, "but be an impact player."
If it was only about what kind of player Matthews might be, it would be more than enough to consume a young man. But Matthews instantly becomes the most important center to play in Toronto since Mats Sundin was in his prime. And with all due respect to the great Swede Hall of Famer, who played at a time when the Leafs were at least playoff contenders if not real Stanley Cup contenders, Matthews is expected to be the light that leads the team out of darkness.
The Arizona native, who fell in love with hockey as he grew up watching the Arizona Coyotes, chuckled when someone mentioned the word "savior" in terms of his role with the Leafs.
"I mean, hockey's a team game, so there's really no savior," Matthews said. "I want to be an impact player, I'd really like to be a franchise centerman, a No. 1 centerman in the NHL."
But if you saw the dozens of reporters, spilling into other interview areas, who gathered to hear Matthews' first words as a Leaf, you understand the implications. As Ferraro put it, Matthews won't be able to tie his shoes without someone commenting on it. What happens when he has a slump as all players, young or old, endure? How will teammates react to a young player who will instantly become the singular focus of the media and public?
If there is one player in this draft capable of understanding and accepting that kind of attention and responsibility, it's Matthews, Crawford predicted.
"He gets it," said Crawford, who is now part of Guy Boucher's Ottawa Senators coaching staff. "And for an 18-year-old kid to get it, that's amazing. People are going to tell you you're better than maybe you are and he's not going to let that sway him. There are going to be times down the road when he gets criticized unduly in that market and I think he gets that part."
Matthews admitted it will be an adjustment for him.
"But I think it's something that I feel I can handle well," he said.
He's not in this alone, will not exist in a vacuum -- even if it feels like that on a night like this, when he is the focus of attention.
But the challenge will be a big one for Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan, GM Lou Lamoriello and coach Mike Babcock, who must provide as strong a safety net as possible for the young man so he can, as much as possible, exist as a normal NHL rookie.
"We're going to have to look after him," said Babcock. "He's a kid. That's our job."
Matthews' personality will also be a key factor in ensuring the attention doesn't inhibit his evolution as a player.
"He's calm, he's focused," Hynes said. "I think he's been through a lot, and he does have that personality where I think he has a strong focus level, but he's an even-keeled person and I think he's a real good teammate. I think if anyone can handle that type of market at a young age, he's definitely that type of person."
And so the future begins for Auston Matthews the NHL player. And maybe, just maybe, it begins again for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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