<p>Following Monday night&#8217;s <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/knee-jerk-reaction-toronto-maple-leafs-statement-win-flames">commanding win over the Calgary Flames,</a> the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/combinations">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> are looking to keep the energy going into Wednesday&#8217;s tilt vs. the Colorado Avalanche. Ahead of the game, former Toronto captain John Tavares was on the scene to talk to media about some of the hottest button issues surrounding the Leafs right now.</p>
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<p>As per usual, Mitch Marner continues to be the talk of the town after massive rumours surrounded his name leading into this year&#8217;s trade deadline, <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/report-hurricanes-asked-toronto-maple-leafs-marner-rantanen">most notably regarding a possible trade to acquire Rantanen.</a> Despite the noise and criticism, Marner has managed five points in five games since the March 7th deadline and is still on track to tie his career-high of 99 points, chasing that elusive 100-point benchmark. Tavares shared his perspective on how Marner has managed to block out all the noise surrounding his name to keep playing his game.</p>
<p>&#8220;Yeah, he&#8217;s been great,&#8221; said the veteran forward. &#8220;I think the easiest part, I think probably when there&#8217;s a lot of noise around things, is you can just go out there and put your gear on and play and do what you&#8217;ve done your whole life, and it&#8217;s something that you love to do.&#8221;</p>
<p>Marner&#8217;s reported refusal to waive his no-movement clause at the deadline caused a stir in Toronto, especially considering he could still walk for nothing when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. Tavares added that the hometown kid still loves playing here and giving his all despite the criticism.</p>
<p>&#8220;Obviously tremendous competitiveness, desire, all those sorts of things to make it to this level and play for this club,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Certainly being from the GTA, from the city, I know how much he enjoys it and appreciates it, just with the locker room and support around us, it&#8217;s a very tight knit room. It&#8217;s a brotherhood in a lot of ways in how we all are always there to support each other.&#8221;</p>
<p>After being promoted to captain this season, Auston Matthews has seen slower production while also dealing with a number of injuries throughout the year. Tavares offered some perspective on the guy he passed the torch to in the off-season.</p>
<p>&#8220;I think over the last couple of weeks he has been phenomenal and certainly, you know, wants to be that driving force and set that example and play it at a very, very high level,&#8221; said Tavares. &#8220;Obviously contributes in so many different areas and obviously can put the puck in the net as good as anyone in the world and did it in a huge way for us the other night.&#8221;</p>
<p>Although Matthews&#8217; two goals and one assist were the main attention-grabber, Tavares made sure to shout out the little things he does so well, too.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s also his ability to win face-offs, playing the penalty kill, his competitive level on pucks, winning battles, things like that,&#8221; Tavares said. &#8220;How he uses his body, those little things that that accumulate throughout a 60-minute game that are just extremely impressive and and set a tremendous example for the group and pull everyone along.&#8221;</p>
<p>Headed into their second match of the season against the Avalanche, Tavares also touched on the red-hot Nathan MacKinnon, who currently leads the league in points, with 16 in his last nine games.</p>
<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s just seemed to, a number of years ago, just really find something about himself that&#8217;s just allowed him to take off to be one of the best players in the world,&#8221; he said. &#8220;To just be so dynamic and be so hard to play against and difficult to defend and one of the toughest challenges you&#8217;re gonna face in the game.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Maple Leafs will host a dangerous Avalanche team on Wednesday night and hope for a better result than the 7-4 loss they suffered immediately following the trade deadline. Tavares knows all too well that MacKinnon and the Avalanche aren&#8217;t a team you can take lightly.</p>
<p>&#8220;He&#8217;s an extremely competitive guy from from being around him a little bit and getting to know him and how hard he works, how diligent he is about his preparation and his craft and how great he wants to be. So, playing against a player like that at this level, the player that he is is always a lot of fun and a great challenge.&#8221;</p>
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Mitch Marner skating in Toronto Maple Leafs St. Patrick's jersey Calgary Flames in background

Following Monday night's <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/knee-jerk-reaction-toronto-maple-leafs-statement-win-flames">commanding win over the Calgary Flames,</a> the <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/combinations">Toronto Maple Leafs</a> are looking to keep the energy going into Wednesday's tilt vs. the Colorado Avalanche. Ahead of the game, former Toronto captain John Tavares was on the scene to talk to media about some of the hottest button issues surrounding the Leafs right now.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2106" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="324"></div>
As per usual, Mitch Marner continues to be the talk of the town after massive rumours surrounded his name leading into this year's trade deadline, <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/report-hurricanes-asked-toronto-maple-leafs-marner-rantanen">most notably regarding a possible trade to acquire Rantanen.</a> Despite the noise and criticism, Marner has managed five points in five games since the March 7th deadline and is still on track to tie his career-high of 99 points, chasing that elusive 100-point benchmark. Tavares shared his perspective on how Marner has managed to block out all the noise surrounding his name to keep playing his game.

"Yeah, he's been great," said the veteran forward. "I think the easiest part, I think probably when there's a lot of noise around things, is you can just go out there and put your gear on and play and do what you've done your whole life, and it's something that you love to do."

Marner's reported refusal to waive his no-movement clause at the deadline caused a stir in Toronto, especially considering he could still walk for nothing when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. Tavares added that the hometown kid still loves playing here and giving his all despite the criticism.

"Obviously tremendous competitiveness, desire, all those sorts of things to make it to this level and play for this club," he continued. "Certainly being from the GTA, from the city, I know how much he enjoys it and appreciates it, just with the locker room and support around us, it's a very tight knit room. It's a brotherhood in a lot of ways in how we all are always there to support each other."

After being promoted to captain this season, Auston Matthews has seen slower production while also dealing with a number of injuries throughout the year. Tavares offered some perspective on the guy he passed the torch to in the off-season.

"I think over the last couple of weeks he has been phenomenal and certainly, you know, wants to be that driving force and set that example and play it at a very, very high level," said Tavares. "Obviously contributes in so many different areas and obviously can put the puck in the net as good as anyone in the world and did it in a huge way for us the other night."

Although Matthews' two goals and one assist were the main attention-grabber, Tavares made sure to shout out the little things he does so well, too.

"It's also his ability to win face-offs, playing the penalty kill, his competitive level on pucks, winning battles, things like that," Tavares said. "How he uses his body, those little things that that accumulate throughout a 60-minute game that are just extremely impressive and and set a tremendous example for the group and pull everyone along."

Headed into their second match of the season against the Avalanche, Tavares also touched on the red-hot Nathan MacKinnon, who currently leads the league in points, with 16 in his last nine games.

"He's just seemed to, a number of years ago, just really find something about himself that's just allowed him to take off to be one of the best players in the world," he said. "To just be so dynamic and be so hard to play against and difficult to defend and one of the toughest challenges you're gonna face in the game."

The Maple Leafs will host a dangerous Avalanche team on Wednesday night and hope for a better result than the 7-4 loss they suffered immediately following the trade deadline. Tavares knows all too well that MacKinnon and the Avalanche aren't a team you can take lightly.

"He's an extremely competitive guy from from being around him a little bit and getting to know him and how hard he works, how diligent he is about his preparation and his craft and how great he wants to be. So, playing against a player like that at this level, the player that he is is always a lot of fun and a great challenge."

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Tavares speaks about noise around Marner, Matthews’ leadership, containing MacKinnon

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