Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews is always looking for ways to ramp up his conditioning training throughout each offseason. This summer’s addition? Mid-day tennis matches in the Phoenix desert against basketball hall-of-famer and Canadian icon, Steve Nash.

Matthews was a guest on Tuesday’s recording of the 32 Thoughts podcast with Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas and revealed how the connection and friendship came about with the legendary Nash. “I played with Steve Nash a couple times this summer,” mentioned Matthews. “He’s actually my neighbour in Phoenix.”

The 50-year-old Nash is the brother-in-law to former Maple Leafs assistant coach Manny Malhotra, who is married to Joann Nash, Steve’s sister. Matthews, who’s summer has included being named captain of the Maple Leafs, gave a ton of praise to his elder neighbour as even though there’s 24 years between them, the matches are intense and ultra-competitive.

“Not too many guys in Arizona are playing tennis in the middle of the day,” said Matthews. “He hits like a one-hand backhand kinda like Federer. He’s pretty smooth. He loves it, too. He’s much better than me, but he’s a lot of fun to play with.”

Turns out tennis was also a big attribute to Matthews and Max Domi becoming fast friends off the ice. Domi shed some light throughout last season on what had brought the two so close, so quickly, and their love for the game certainly was a contributing factor. “We got to know each other a little bit through that. Both of us love tennis so we got a lot to talk about with that,” explained Domi.

“I’m his No. 1 fan and love getting to know him. He’s a great human being. Loves working on his craft and we got a lot of similarities in that sense. Both of us like pushing the pace and both of us want to win so we have fun together for sure.”

The new captain of the Maple Leafs admitted during the recording that he’s made a few tweaks to his training routine this summer, but wouldn’t dive into too much detail about the specifics of what he’s been working on. He did however give Friedman and Bukauskas a look into what type of leadership qualities he plans on bringing into the dressing room in Toronto.

“As far as my leadership goes, I’m not maybe the most vocal guy in the locker room. But the past couple of years I’ve felt more comfortable to speak up,” Matthews said.

“I tend to just lead by example, trying to set the standard for our team whether it’s in practice or in games. But I think over time, it’s important to realize the impact that you have in the locker room.”

Matthews went on to mention he’s very excited about this season’s Maple Leafs team and even though there hasn’t been much playoff success, he’s confident this group will push forward into a new territory of success.