Kirill Marchenko spent his first two nights as a Maple Leaf learning the rink on the fly. On Friday, he finally got to learn it at practice speed.

Acquired from Columbus and dropped into the lineup without a single session in blue and white, Marchenko took his first Leafs practice alongside Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic, the start of what head coach Jim Hiller called a necessary chemistry project. Hiller had spoken to him after the skate. The winger, he said, was happy just to be out there.

“I get the sense from him. He’s a really, he loves hockey. He wants to be on the ice all the time. He loves practice. A little bit less pressure when you’re practicing with your line mates. They’re gonna have to find a little more chemistry. I think they were able to accomplish that today.”

Marchenko did not dress it up. Two games and zero practices had been a hard way to arrive.

“I’m really happy to be on the first practice today after two games. It’s giving me some confidence, feel the ice and just feel my partners again, because I have two games, zero practice. Kind of tough. And now I’m happy to practice with our line today. And we feel each other a little bit. And it’s nice. We build the chemistry here.”

He was careful not to call it instant. A couple of drills, a couple of passes, a read on where Matthews goes and where Roslovic goes. They scored on the line in practice. That was enough for day one.

“It’s kind of no quick, but we, I think, day by day. And now we just couple exercises on the ice, couple drills on the ice. We pass to each other, understand where [Matthews] go, where [Roslovic] go, how me to adapt for this style hockey. I actually like it, and we score a couple goals too in our line. I like it.”

The other early story has been Easton Cowan, off to a strong start on a line with Nick Paul and Colton Sissons. The outside noise has been predictable: bump him, get him more shifts, reward the start. Hiller is not interested.

“Well, we really like the line, so you know, sometimes you can overthink things and change everything around, or you just say, you know what, they’re good, so let’s just keep them together. Good start for them, but again, it’s just early for everybody, so we’ll just give them another run and see where we look.”

That line is doing more than producing. It has become the template Hiller wants elsewhere. Asked where the John Tavares group sits heading into Saturday, Hiller said he had already spoken to all three of them separately, and that all three already had the answer.

“So they didn’t even need my thoughts on it. So they got to get the pucks a little deeper at certain times and play a little bit more in the O-zone. I think that’s the big solution.”

Gavin McKenna has spent two NHL games sorting the same problem from the other side of it. The rush has not been enough. The interior has been harder to reach than the highlight reel suggested it would be.

“I think there’s a lot to learn from those first two games. I think for me, it’s a little bit getting more to the inside, trying to support my teammates a bit more, be in spots where they can find me, and get a few more puck touches. But I thought that second game was a little bit better, made a few more plays, and yeah, just looking to build on it.”

He did not pretend the adjustment was a surprise.

“I think it’s always a challenge in every single league to get to the inside, but yeah, obviously in the NHL it’s going to be a little bit harder. But yeah, something I’ve definitely realized early on, and something I’m looking to improve on.”

The blueprint, he said, is already on the roster. He, Tavares and William Nylander have talked about what Paul, Sissons and Cowan are doing on the forecheck: win it deep, make the simple play, then go to work.

“You see how hard they forecheck. I think that’s something that me, John and Willie have kind of talked about. You know, that’s how we’re going to create. We don’t, you know, every single time you don’t have to make a play off the rush. Sometimes you got to make a simple play and then just go to work, and I think that’s something that we can do. And I think when we start to work like that, I think we’ll get a lot more results.”

Hiller’s message to him has been short. Keep playing his game. Be confident. Have fun. Don’t pile pressure on an 18-year-old two games into his career. McKenna said the confidence is still there, and that he is looking forward to the next one.

The body, after his first NHL back-to-back, held up better than the legs suggested it might. They got heavy after the opener. College had prepared him for the schedule, not the league.

“Yeah, it felt not too bad. Legs might have got a bit heavy after the first game, but yeah, I think in college you play a few back-to-backs, so used to it. But yeah, at the NHL, it’s a different breed. So recovery has been a big thing for me this summer and going into this year. And I think living with JT and just seeing these guys how they treat their bodies every single day, I think it rubs off on me and it’s helped.”

Chris Tanev had joked that staying off the ice for Tuesday’s morning skate was a bit of swag. McKenna shut that down. He usually skates in the morning. This was a back-to-back, it was his first game, and he wanted to be rested.

The power play got a longer look with Marchenko in the bumper, a spot he told reporters he is not used to. Hiller thought the top unit was a little more dangerous on Friday. He also thought it is still trying to make one pass too many.

“As much as we can work on it, we’ll do that. I thought they were a little bit more dangerous today, and I think just generally, what I’ve seen is just maybe too much trying to make the next play, trying to make that next pass. You know, there’s lots of skill, but I think you got to be a little bit more direct, and then use your skill from there and create a little more chaos.”

He was asked directly about the shooters already on that unit, Matthews and Darren Raddysh with the big bombs, Nylander from the other side, Marchenko from the middle. The answer was the same.

“Yeah, that’s just it. And I think, you know, Marchenko’s got a bomb from the middle too. Willie’s got a bomb from the other side. So there’s lots there. So I think right now we’ve deferred a little bit to finding the perfect play, and nobody wants to be, quote-unquote, selfish. But I think we have to shoot the puck.”

Marchenko will take the bumper. He will also take the off wing. He grew up a left winger in Russia until he was 22, and only started playing the right side in the NHL. The game moves him around anyway.

“Usually I play on the wing. But again, we have a lot of rotation right now. Try to build chemistry and power play again too, because we had a lot of skill there. A lot of skill guys and they helped me and we find the ways how we can score. If we score the goals, I don’t care where I need to play.”

Hiller prefers it that way when the player does. A right shot on the left side, he said, protects the puck better against pinches on the wall, and makes the cut to the middle a real shooting threat once a winger comes over the blue line with time. Marchenko has played left wing before. Hiller called him comfortable there.

On the extra attacker, Hiller pushed back on the idea that Nylander’s late absence after a shorthanded goal was a message. Nylander will see six-on-five at times. That game was not one of them.

The Morgan Rielly–Darren Raddysh pair is not a textbook match. Two offensive defencemen, asked to sort out who is covering whom. Hiller said they were better in game two than in game one, and that nothing about the pairing is settled.

“I thought they were better in game two, and you know, it’s just going to take time. That’s a new, like you said, they’re both a little bit offensive defencemen. Typically wouldn’t play together. So to get a little chemistry between them and find out who’s covering who and at what moment. Yeah, I thought game two was better. And again, these are right now nothing set in stone. We’re just getting off to the races here. But we liked what they did the second night.”

Sergei Bobrovsky’s first week has been a debut win over Montreal, a day of practice, and a reunion with Anthony Stolarz. He called the relationship they built in Florida a help to the room, not just the crease.

“We had a great relationship with him in Florida, and we continue to build. And I think it’s a huge help for the team to see that we’re tight and we’re supporting each other and helping each other.”

He liked Tuesday. Montreal was good. Toronto did good things. He also laughed off the moment he stepped onto the ice ahead of McKenna for the rookie lap. It was not a superstition. He forgot.

“No, no. I just, I completely forgot. I didn’t think about it. I completely forgot. Yeah, I came to him and I also told him. So I pretend that it’s my first game too. But no, I didn’t mean to do that. So it just happened by incident.”

On the 18-year-old he jumped in front of, Bobrovsky sounded like a veteran who has stopped trying to explain it.

“He’s an excellent talent. You know, he’s a young kid, but what he can do on ice, how the ability to skate, to do the things with the puck, how he sees the rink too, it’s impressive. I don’t know how the kids doing that. At 18 years old, they can play hockey at that level.”

He was asked about Marchenko’s skill the same way. Long stick. Coordinated. Sees the rink. Uses his size. Quick release. Smart offensively. And, Bobrovsky added, a personality that will help the room. On the shootout attempt that beat him high blocker, he shrugged in the way goalies do.

“You know, like, it’s the skill guys. He’s a skill forward. Same as, like, we got lots of guys that [have] tons of skill, and yeah, they can score goals. Sometimes you make a save, sometimes they score goals. So that’s fun. It’s a good league to play in.”

The small plays have registered. Morgan Rielly keeping a puck in at the line and turning it into a goal was, to Bobrovsky, the kind of detail that gets lost and still decides games, same as a block or a stick in the right lane. He had heard about Igor Shesterkin scoring and had not seen it. Impressive, he said. He has taken one shot in his career and never been close. Scoring, he added, has a time and a place.

Jack Roslovic has appointed himself a warmup shooter. Bobrovsky compared those shots, and Brandon Duhaime’s, to a computer: ask for 15 or 20 centimetres off the ice, and they do it 10 in a row.

Saturday is Ottawa, and for McKenna it is also Dylan Cozens. The two skated together at the end of the summer. Two players from Whitehorse, finally on opposite sides of an NHL game, with a lot of the Yukon watching.

“Yeah, it’ll be super cool. I skated with him at the end of summer there, and kind of talked to him a little bit about it. And it’ll be super cool. It’ll be amazing for our community to have, you know, two Whitehorse people finally play each other in the NHL. I know there’ll be a lot of people from back home watching on TV, so it’ll be a special moment.”

The texts from home have already been steady. He called them heartfelt. He also talked about what the week already meant, on Truth and Reconciliation Day, with his grandfather in the building. His grandpa is a residential school survivor.

“Yeah, it means a lot. Obviously, with my grandpa being a residential school survivor, you know, that’s a day that we always kind of take a lot for. And yeah, for that game, for my grandpa being in the building, was very special. And he’s one of the hardest-working people I know, and most dedicated and most loving people. So he’s gone through a lot, and he’s been a huge motivator for me.”

Family is in town through Sunday. He would like the first something, a point, a goal, a night they can take home, to happen while they are still here. The leadership group, he said, has kept him in the loop at dinners and around the room. Easton Cowan had already said the same about both of them. McKenna’s version was simple: they have been trying to pump him up, and he cannot thank them enough.

Saturday is also Daniel Alfredsson’s first time behind the Leafs bench against the Ottawa Senators since he left the club this past summer to join Toronto as associate head coach. Hiller called it a big night and pointed back to the ovation Alfredsson got in the starting lineup.

“I mean, it’s going to be a big night. Let’s be honest. I loved the ovation he got in the starting lineup from the Leafs fans. You know, and there was some talk, ‘Hey, what’s it going to be like?’ I thought it was tremendous. I thought, you know, obviously days gone by as a player. Now he’s one of our coaches, and full support from Leafs Nation.”

Off the ice, Marchenko is still in a hotel, looking for an apartment or a house, and using Thursday’s day off to breathe. He played with his cat. He tried not to think about the two games he had just played.

The cat’s name is Alex. Marchenko has had him a couple of years. Asked what kind, he landed on a Bengal, not a tiger, he clarified, though the description took a lap to get there.

The tour guide has been Roslovic, a former Blue Jackets teammate who spent about three hours walking him through the city: how long to the practice rink, how long to the game rink, what the traffic actually does. Columbus kept practice and games in one area. Toronto does not. Marchenko has spent recent summers in Moscow. Traffic, he said, is not a new concept.

“Oh yes, of course. We already talk a lot, for three hours. He’s helped me, explaining what’s going on here, how long drive to the practice rink, how long drive to the game arena, because in Columbus I have a little different city and different, you have practice and game in one area and here is different, and he’s explained me all small details about city and traffic.”

Bobrovsky’s summary of the week was shorter. Great team. Great organization. Fans have been great. He called himself fortunate, and thankful for another opportunity and another group.

Saturday is the next test of whether any of Friday’s work shows up. The Cowan line stays together. The Tavares line has been told to get pucks deeper. The power play has been told to shoot. Marchenko has one practice in the books, a bumper spot to learn, and a line that is still introducing itself.

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