John Tavares is already shaping how the next wave of talent inside the Maple Leafs' circle thinks about this job.
Gavin McKenna, one of the most talked about prospects in the sport, has been living with Tavares this offseason.
McKenna says it is not just what Tavares does on the ice. It is everything he does once he leaves the rink.
"For me, being a young guy and having a veteran like that kind of take me under his wing, it's just how dialled in he is off the ice," McKenna said.
He added that Tavares treats recovery like its own full-time job, with food prep and equipment set up right inside his house.
McKenna is not making it up. Tavares played all 82 games last season and produced 71 points, proof the habits actually translate.
He has carried that into form recently too, picking up 11 points over his last 10 games at center.
Tavares treats his body like a piece of equipment that needs daily maintenance
New head coach Jim Hiller inherits a Toronto locker room where Tavares' voice already carries real weight, especially with a teenager watching his every move.
That matters more this year. The Maple Leafs finished last season 32-36-14, ranking 28th overall in the league.
Here is the part nobody talks about enough. Tavares is doing this on a cap hit of 4,389,280 dollars at age 35, one of the better value contracts on the roster.
How many 35 year olds play all 82 games and still have energy left over to mentor a teenager in the middle of the summer?
It is not a spotless picture. Tavares finished last season at a minus-28 rating, even with four game-winning goals mixed in.
McKenna is not signed long-term to Toronto and nothing here guarantees he ever will be. For now, he is just a young player taking notes from a veteran who never stops working.
Whether that living arrangement turns into anything more permanent for the Maple Leafs organization is a different story entirely, and one nobody can answer yet.
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Is John Tavares more valuable to the Maple Leafs as a mentor now than as a scorer?
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