You know you're doing something well when you can leave a lasting impression on Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews at training camp.
The 27-year-old forward skated in the second group of players in Toronto's training camp on Friday. Similar to Thursday, Matthews was placed alongside Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies, two players he's quite familiar with.
In the group were several other players, including NHL-experienced guys in Chris Tanev, Morgan Rielly, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares. However, there were a lot of skaters who hadn't established themselves at the NHL level yet.
Alex Steeves, Jacob Quillan, and William Villeneuve all come to mind. Some are close to the NHL, but it's unlikely any begin the season with the Maple Leafs.
But it's always fascinating when two groups of players go head-to-head like this. You can learn a lot about who's close and who isn't. Bobby McMann and Marshall Rifai are two players on the cusp, who already have NHL games in their back pockets.
McMann more so, given his run with the Maple Leafs last season where he scored 15 goals and 9 assists in 56 games with the club. Rifai, however, has only played two NHL games, but he's looking for more in the future.
"I think Rifai, he's been around for a lot of summer and skating with him a lot the last month or so. But he had some games up with us last year and he works so hard. And you can just see he wants it and just continues to progress, and I've been pretty impressed with him and just the way he plays hard on both sides of the puck. So that's definitely one guy," Matthews said on Friday afternoon after day two of training camp.
"I think Bobby McMann's looked really good. You can just see him and Kniesy (Matthew Knies) are kind of similar players and just the way they, how strong they are and big and the skill set that they have to go along with it. So I mean, I think those are gonna be a couple of key guys for our team this year to help us take steps as well."
McMann and Rifai each have unique stories. McMann played for Colgate University in the NCAA before signing an AHL deal with the Marlies. He worked his way through the ranks there and impressed enough to earn a contract with the Maple Leafs.
Rifai played four seasons at Harvard University and then signed an AHL contract with the Marlies in March 2022. He, like McMann, performed well enough to get himself a two-year NHL deal with Toronto in July 2023.
McMann is under contract with the Maple Leafs until 2026 (a two-year, $2.7 million deal) while Rifai is in Toronto until 2027, after signing a two-year extension in early September.
"They're both aggressive players that skate well," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said on Friday.
"One's a [defenseman], one's a forward, but that's what you notice about them — their ability to get in there, battle, and win battles. They're both strong guys and both can move."
