The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the midst of their mentors trip, and former Leaf Joe Thornton was among the people invited to this event.

Apart from Craig Berube and Dennis Hildeby, every member of the Leafs team and staff brought a guest with them who they viewed as a mentor. Captain Auston Matthews was the one who initiated the invitation to the future Hall of Famer, who was seen posing with team legends Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark during Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

When asked after Tuesday’s win in Philadelphia why he invited Thornton, Matthews said it was because of their close friendship and the living legend’s relationship with team members.

“I mean he’s not just my mentor. I feel like he’s almost everybody’s mentor here,” he said. “We talk all the time, and I thought it was just a cool opportunity to bring him along. And you know, with his jersey retirement this year and just the relationship that he still has with myself, a lot of guys on the team, staff members, you know, it’s been a treat to have him so far. So it’s been a lot of fun.”

Matthews and Thornton were teammates during the 2021 COVID-shortened campaign, during which the Leafs competed only against the other Canadian teams and had to deal with COVID restrictions. While he was far from the player he was at the peak of his career, Thornton nonetheless had a decent campaign, playing primarily in the bottom six, where he finished tied for 10th in scoring with 20 points (five goals and 15 assists) in 44 games.

At one point, the duo shared a line along with Mitch Marner which Thornton got to enjoy feeling young again even as his career was winding down at the time.

“Just a talent level these guys have. These guys grew up on skills, coaches and things like that, and they can do things that I could never imagine doing,” Thornton said on January 4th, 2021 on what it was like pairing up with the Leafs stars.  “Being around this useful energy, I think it just gets me excited and they got a lot of it here. But, just soak it all in. I feel like I’m young again, it’s a good feeling to be in.”

Although that season ended in heartbreak, he and Matthews have remained good friends ever since. The two have been seen taking in UFC fights on numerous occasions including one occasion where they were joined by Justin Bieber. In fact, Matthews was jealous when he was told that San Jose Sharks rookie Macklin Celebrini would be rooming with Thornton during his rookie campaign given that he got to spend a few weeks living with the living legend before the 2021 season.

“It’s great to see him,” head coach Craig Berube said on Thornton being at the mentors trip. “A special player obviously. Great player for a long time in this league. He’s pretty close to a lot of these guys from playing here and stuff. So it’s great to have him with us.”

The mentors trip concludes on Thursday when the Leafs head down to Carolina to face the Hurricanes.