'Very Stuck In Their Ways': What The Maple Leafs Notice In Similarities Between John Tavares and Max Pacioretty

Tavares and Pacioretty are alike in some ways, both on and off the ice with the Maple Leafs.

John Tavares and Max Pacioretty share more in common than just being on the same line with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Both have been the captain of an NHL team, played over 900 games in their perspective careers, and according to Ryan Reaves, are "very stuck in their ways" with their game preparation.

"They just have their things they like and that's okay. They have their routines," Reaves said with a smile.

"I think some of the best players in the world, they get to a certain point in their career where they're that good and you stick with what works, so I think they've earned the right to be like that."

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The two, and William Nylander, skated on a line Monday in their 6-4 win over the Winnipeg Jets. The trio combined for nine points on the evening, with Pacioretty tallying all assists and Tavares scoring a hat-trick.

The former Maple Leafs captain says he's learned a lot from Pacioretty since he arrived in the organization last month.

"He's just real knowledgeable, always looking to learn and get better and find different things that can help you continue to evolve and improve," Tavares said. "Some things always stay the same, but obviously a lot changes and different things you go through throughout your career and that you learn and you experience, that you just gain knowledge and understanding to just handle things differently or understanding things that have kind of always been really solid that are important foundation pieces for how you play or how you work on things.

"So, he's very knowledgeable, very aware of those things, and taking that all in and applying it to his day-to-day."

Pacioretty on the other hand has noticed how focused Tavares always is, especially on game days.

"He's one of the most dialled-in, committed players I've ever seen when it comes to on-ice, off-ice. I really like old-school mentality players in the sense that talking to each other about every play, chemistry and whatnot," Pacioretty said. 

"And he's a guy that everyone seems to find chemistry with and I think a lot of it is because of how he approaches the game and how he communicates, especially in the center position, I think that's important, and probably a big reason why he's had a lot of success."

Since signing with the Maple Leafs, the 35-year-old forward has gotten good use out of the team's development staff. After nearly every practice, Pacioretty remains on the ice working to improve his game.

One area Tavares has opened Pacioretty's eyes up to more is how much skating has changed since the two players entered the league nearly 16 years ago. The former Montreal Canadiens captain said he's worked on that area of his game with Toronto's development coaches Paul Matheson and Patrick O’Sullivan.

"We've talked about it before, the opportunity to work on your game and kind of how skating's evolved since him and I came into the league," Pacioretty said of what he and Tavares have discussed. 

"Everything I'm learning right now is completely against and everything that I grew up learning in terms of skating and I knew about it a little bit but Johnny opened my eyes up to it big time."

Pacioretty is nearly two years older than Tavares, but the two are very similar in ways. Before signing a professional tryout with Toronto, the forward believed he was very stubborn with his routine.

That was until he met Tavares.

"I felt like I was always a little bit out there with things I like to do and keeping a routine and trying to feel as good as I can out there. And then I came in [to Toronto] and he's probably got a little bit even more tendencies than I do, whether it's part of a warmup or a routine, I guess you call it," Pacioretty smiled.

"But he's dialled in and I've learned a lot from him already in the short time I've been here and I love stuff like that."