When Auston Matthews fell into the laps of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it jump-started their rebuilding schedule.
But no one, not president Brendan Shanahan, not general manager Lou Lamoriello and certainly not coach Mike Babcock thought it would happen so fast.
The Leafs, whose last-place finish last season paved the way for Matthews to make his way north of the border, are tied with Boston with 58 points for third in the NHL's Atlantic Division, with four games in hand.
As of Monday's 6-5 loss to the New York Islanders, they’re also only a point behind Philadelphia for the second and final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
The current management team isn’t the only group of people caught off guard by the unexpected early success of the new-look Maple Leafs.
A trio of former Toronto greats said they like what they see from Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, whose hat trick helped the Leafs slip past the Bruins 6-5 on Saturday night.
Dave (Tiger) Williams said he knew it would happen the day Babcock and Lamoriello came on board.
“Last year was a learning process, getting them used to the way Babcock and Lou run things. The kids have bought into it,” said Williams, the NHL’s all-time penalty minute leader who spent six seasons with the Leafs before being dealt to Vancouver in 1980.
“We’ve got some pretty good talent there with those two draft choices (Matthews and Marner) and they’re playing unbelievable. But I’ve known Babcock since he was 14 years old and he makes you own it.”
As Williams was headed west 37 years ago, rookie Rick Vaive made his way east. He’d spend the next six seasons with Toronto, becoming the first Maple Leafs player to crack the 50-goal mark, a feat he achieved three times from 1981-82 to 1983-84.
He too likes what he sees.
“They’re going in the right direction,” said Vaive, who joined Williams last week for the NHL Alumni Tour game against local law enforcement all-stars at Fort William Gardens.
“That’s wonderful to see. It’s wonderful to watch. And they’ve got a bunch of young guys playing junior and even a couple in the American (Hockey) League that will probably make it there at some point. It’s a lot of fun to watch. I’ve enjoyed this season a lot and the outdoor game was just the icing on the cake.
Vaive, Williams and former first-round pick Al Iafrate were among the Leafs greats who suited up for the Alumni Classic on New Year’s Eve, along with hall-of-famers Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald and Mats Sundin.
Iafrate, who also played for Boston, Washington and San Jose during an injury-plagued career, said he’ll always be a Leafs fan.
The new management team knows the recipe to build a winning squad and is busy compiling all the ingredients, Iafrate said. It's never an easy task, he added.
“The NHL is such a tight league. You’re a bad signing and a couple of bad draft picks away from being a mediocre team at best. It seems like everything they’re doing is coming to fruition, when it comes to how they’re executing and how they’re bringing all young guys in and how their other guys are exiting that don’t fit into the new plan that they have,” Iafrate said.
“It’s great to see. It’s a fun team to watch.”
