Rasmus Sandin doesn’t know you, but he is probably comfortable with you. After all, the 19-year-old is comfortable playing hockey, speaking with media, under pressure, and even conversing with the iron-bar-eating coach who, in the next week or so, will determine his immediate fate with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The coach seems to like him, rather a lot.

“All you have to do is watch,” says Mike Babcock of Sandin, one of Toronto’s two young Swedish defenceman. “He’s smart. He knows how to play, he’s got a feel, he’s one of these guys that it doesn’t seem to matter how old he is, because his hockey sense is so good. He sees it. He’s a little guy who seems to know how to defend. He seems to know how to leverage his body. He just seems to be a good player.

“And the other thing about him, when you talk to him, he doesn’t get all uptight. He’s just, oh, OK, yeah. Or knows what you’re going to say before you say it, most of the time.”

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Seems like a lot of things. Babcock is known to lean on veterans because he lives in aggressive fear of hockey mistakes. He likes guys you don’t have to worry about. Meanwhile, the clear-eyed and serene Sandin is trying to make a team with two open defence spots and Stanley Cup aspirations, and doesn’t seem to be worried about much of anything.

“I mean, that’s one of my strengths, trying to be calm, both on and off the ice,” he says with practised ease. “I think I’m a pretty mature kid, and I want to be that on and off the ice.”

It’s fun when 19-year-olds describe themselves as pretty mature kids. So Rasmus, when was the last time you were nervous? Like, significantly?

“Ooooh,” says Sandin, seeming genuinely interested. He thinks for a second. “I don’t know, to be honest.” Maybe the Calder Cup playoffs last year? He can’t really think of a specific thing.

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What about a little nervous? We will settle for a little nervous.

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“First (game with Toronto) last year I was, a little bit,” says Sandin. “I mean it was pretty special, I think. It’s big, playing for the big club, in front of all those fans, never done that before. So last year, first game I was a little bit nervous, but I don’t get that nervous, I feel like. So that’s both good and bad, I guess.”

Bad? How is it bad?

“I don’t know, to be honest,” he says cheerfully. “Maybe it’s not bad … It’s a good thing for us, playing good in those games to show that we want those spots, too.”

Pressure is always present in Toronto, and now as much as ever. The Leafs are built to take a run at a Cup with a team with a defence corps half-built to self-destruct, or at least to walk into free agency next summer. Tyson Barrie, Jake Muzzin and Cody Ceci will start the year on the top four, and Barrie especially seems temporary since he could easily roll out a 70-point season and get $8 million per year somewhere.

The bottom pair, meanwhile, is a Rorschach test, and only one set of eyes gets to interpret what they see. Sandin played his second straight game Friday night against Buffalo, playing his off side, and he got a long look with some good moments. Other third-pair candidates include Martin Marincin, Timothy Liljegren, Teemu Kivihalme, Ben Harpur, Justin Holl, et cetera. Until Travis Dermott returns from shoulder surgery — 12 to 14 games was Babcock’s estimate — this is an enormous opportunity.

Oh, and if Sandin can step in he gets a head start to fill the vacuum of defencemen for next year, too. He has 44 AHL games and 51 OHL games and five Swedish elite games under his belt. This would be a jump.

“Yeah, I think with all our D, obviously we’re trying to find two there, so we’re just watching them each and every night,” says Babcock. “I think this week’s a very important week in camp because we get a chance to see you play games, and there’s only so much time to show, but we’re looking for players, and who wants the jobs?”

Sandin wants the job, very much. He thinks Babcock wants him to be himself and to compete, and he wants to compete. Fellow newcomer Jason Spezza, at the other end of the career spectrum, says intensity at camp has been high. He called it “desperation … to get up to speed quickly.”

Sandin liked the way Thursday night went. He had confident moments, and said he sometimes felt out of place, but not much. Sandin’s cool. It’s fine.

“I was really impressed with him last year, honestly,” said centre Auston Matthews. “He can skate, he sees the ice, he just seems to kind of slow the game down and always make the right play. Obviously he had a year down with the Marlies and he just seems to have even more confidence coming into this season.

“I thought he played really well the other night. It’s fun getting out with a guy like him because he can see the ice, he jumps in and he’s smart about when he jumps in on offence, and obviously breaking out of our own end, I mean, he sees it. He makes plays that not many people can. It’s been fun to see, and it’s been fun to be out there with him.”

He sees it: Babcock said those exact words, too. Babcock said the kid sees the coach’s counsel coming, too. Sandin says he’s hard on himself, and that’s why.

“Yeah, usually I know when I do my mistakes, so sometimes I don’t really need to hear them, because I already know what they’re going to say,” says Sandin. “But it’s great having him as a coach. I mean, he’s a guy I want to play for, so obviously listen and try to learn as much as I can from him.”

Rasmus Sandin has a real chance to take a leap into the rest of his career. He can see that, too.