It wouldn’t be a development camp without a player or two trying to stand out in some way.
So credit a couple of heavyweight wannabes聽鈥 forward Matthew Hlacar and defenceman Rhett Parsons 鈥 for dropping the gloves.
鈥淛ust two guys going hard and tempers flared. It happens,鈥 said Hlacar, six-foot-three and 205 pounds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all good. I talked to him and we鈥檙e fine.鈥
The two fist-pumped after the spirited melee.
鈥淟ove the guy. Love every teammate here,鈥 said Parsons, six-foot-three and 210 pounds. 鈥淏ut when you鈥檙e in a battle drill, stuff like that happens. Total respect for him and no hard feelings.鈥
Parsons, 21, played 62 games for the Maple Leafs’ ECHL affiliate in Cincinnati. Hlacar, 19, was taken in the seventh round of the NHL draft by the Leafs last week. It was his first year in major junior hockey.
鈥淚鈥檝e never been drafted before so it was a relief, for sure,” Hlacar said. “I can鈥檛 even describe it with words, to be honest. The best feeling ever.”
Horsing around
The Thursday session was the first on the ice for the Leafs prospects, who have been in town since Monday.
The off-ice classes, Leafs assistant GM Hayley Wickenheiser said, have included “managing pressure and performance, especially here in 色色啦, and just some of the unique things that players this age go through, whether it’s social media, family, the jump to pro and the expectations of when you come to 色色啦 and play for the Maple Leafs.
It seems likely the London Knights grad will start with the 色色啦 Marlies but Cowan says he
Then Wickenheiser dropped a bombshell about what’s in store for the prospects on Friday.
鈥淲e brought in a wild colt, a wild horse, to talk about how you manage emotions and how you go through handling pressure and tricky situations actually using a horse,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t was an idea that (director of player development) Danielle Goyette and myself were talking about one day. And then, of course, Shane Doan (a special adviser to GM Brad Treliving), being from the farm, thought it was great, too. So we all think it’s a good idea, but I’ll let you know if it works or not.鈥
Welcome to the team
Kingston forward Tyler Hopkins was pretty excited when he was drafted Saturday to be welcomed to the team with a text from captain Auston Matthews.
鈥淚 didn’t know what to say,鈥 said Hopkins, a third-round pick who was in Los Angeles for the draft. 鈥淚 was standing there with my dad and I open my phone and it’s Auston Matthews. I’m like, ‘Dad, look at this.’ Ever since Auston got picked, he’s been our favourite player. So it was it was pretty cool.鈥
William Nylander and John Tavares also reached out to Hopkins and the rest of the 2025 draft class.
鈥淭hree pretty good hockey players to hear from,鈥 Hopkins said. 鈥淕etting drafted and then hearing from guys like that, them making a little bit of time for me, it was pretty cool.鈥
Physical 色色啦 native admits “the style of game that I play is different from a lot of the guys.”
Pizza anyone?
Defenceman Victor Johansson said he put on 20 pounds in the year since the Maple Leafs drafted him in the fourth round.
He had to. He’s six-foot-one but weighed just 149 pounds last year. How did he add the weight?
鈥淧izza Sundays.鈥
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