TORONTO — The more Martins Dzierkals gets hammered by bigger Maple Leafs at development camp, the better he feels.

Showing he can take abuse and pot some goals is one way the 2015 third-round pick thinks he can move up the chain after two successful years with Rouyn-Noranda in the QMJHL. At 5-foot-11 and 173 pounds, Dzierkals (rhymes with circles) hopes to be playing right wing with the Marlies this upcoming season, perhaps one day joining the growing number of Latvians in the NHL.

“Today, we had a net-front drill and I was trying to improve myself,” Dzierkals said Monday at the MasterCard Centre. “You listen to what the coaches are saying, how to put your body in front and tip pucks. In Europe, we don’t play that type of hockey and, when you turn pro, the goals do not come easy. You have to go the dirty areas.”

When Dzierkals first came over, he worked on English by binge watching Game Of Thrones. Now he’s also added French to his base languages of Latvian and Russian, making the most of his recent stay in Northern Quebec.

“French is a little harder. I can go to the store and order something, but it comes a little harder.”

But Dzierkals is a true Huskie, having helped Rouyn-Noranda to the 2016 Memorial Cup final where they lost to fellow Leaf pick Mitch Marner and the London Knights in overtime. When Leaf great Dave Keon was honoured at his old junior rink before a league match, Dzierkals gave him a Huskies sweater during the pre-game ceremony.

“I had the chance to talk to him, it was fantastic,” Dzierkals recalled.

He could play another year in the QMJHL as an over-ager, but prefers not.

“Right now, I’m doing everything I can to be with the Marlies. It would be better for me to make the jump. I don’t want to play junior as a 20-year-old.

“There are a couple of guys (in Latvia) cheering for the Leafs because they know I was drafted there. But, for every guy drafted from my country, it’s huge. From childhood, every kid wants to play in the NHL.”

After split all morning, Leaf D and F draft picks together for chat with D.J. Smith near end of practice at Devo Camp pic.twitter.com/YOyr5efMVV — Lance Hornby (@sunhornby) July 10, 2017

SCOTT LEARNING LOTS

When goalie Joseph Woll’s leg injury left Ian Scott alone to face Monday’s practice puck barrage, he was right in his element.

A fourth-round pick this year, Scott was one of the busiest goaltenders in the Western Hockey League, a starter on one of its worst teams, the Prince Albert Raiders. In his 50 games, 1,554 pucks were counted on Scott’s net and the under-siege Raiders were giving up close to four goals a game.

“I was pretty much sick of losing,” said Scott, who along with 2016 pick Woll and Marlie Garret Sparks are the only homegrown goalies in the organization. “That wears on you. But helps me in the long run, to be able to bounce back after tough games and tough stretches, just have that resilience.”

With no playoffs — P.A.’s record of 21-44-5-2 ensured that — Scott had lots of time to prepare for the June NHL scouting combine and did quite well. The Leafs picked the 6-foot-3 Calgary native in a round where five goalies were taken.

Scott’s first development camp has been a real eye-opener.

“I’ve been learning lots here and it’s really shown the last couple of days,” he said of goalie coaches Steve Briere and Piero Greco being nearby. “Little things I’ve picked up I can take back to have a good season in P.A. You’re excited to be in an NHL camp. The first day I was nervous, but you talk to the guys and get in with the coaches, it all works out.”

Perhaps Scott was fated to be a Leaf. On the night of March 10, when P.A. hosted Brandon, Leaf goalie icon Johnny Bower was in the house, his No. 1 banner from the Air Canada Centre being returned to his hometown. Scott was the game’s first star.

“A pretty cool experience,” Scott said of seeing the 92-year-old Bower in the flesh. “You see his statue in the front lobby of the rink and it’s huge one of him making a big glove save. I don’t remember much about that game, but seeing the banner and him telling the story about using an old mattress as goal pads was great.”

Meanwhile, Woll is day to day as he and Scott are scheduled to start Tuesday’s scrimmage.

FREE AGENTS ALRIGHT

After Kirill Kozhevnikov dominated the first two days of free-agent scrimmage games, tiny Jake Tortora had a hat trick and assist in the Whites’ 8-5 win Monday. The free agents now play the draft prospects Tuesday and Wednesday, the much-anticipated closing act of camp.

Tortora, out of the U.S. Hockey National Development Team Program via Toronto’s Don Mills Flyers, is 161 pounds, but headed to Boston University, where head coach Jerry York has graduated many effective small players through the years.

St. Louis area's Austin Rueschhoff had a pair of goals, having got his start in local minor hockey under the tutelage of NHLers Keith Tkachuk and Jeff Brown. Kozhevnikov added two more goals, as did Taro Hirose, while 5-feet-7 Kitchener Ranger defenceman Joseph Garreffa had a goal and two assists.

CAMPERS CRAM IT IN

The 57 campers have used their time off the ice constructively the past week.

Leafs team nutritionist Jennifer Sygo has been advising them of proper diet and eating habits, while Toronto’s large contingent of strength and conditioning coaches have been instructing as well.

“It’s important to learn new stuff, learn to take care of yourself away from the rink,” said defenceman Timothy Liljegren. “What to eat before you practice, after practice, it’s hard when you’re young to know all that stuff.”

One session was on proper fitting and use of hockey equipment, which is always an important part of a fast-moving contact sport. There is an annual seminar on media training, though years ago, the Leafs invited reporters in to explain to young players what their jobs were. Discussions on social media awareness are also provided.

Many recruits have taken advantage of the Leafs' new shooting range, a synthetic ice pad next to their main rink at MCC that replicates a 60-foot zone from the blue line. Other than seeing a Blue Jay game on Friday, the players have evenings to explore the city.

DUO DROPPED

The Leafs have let their Bulldogs off the leash.

Forwards Tony Cameranesi and Dominic Toninato were moving up together through the University of Minnesota-Duluth program since being drafted by Toronto a year apart (2010-11). But after one season with the Marlies, Cameranesi is a free agent, while the graduating Toninato will seek a new team next month after he didn’t get the NHL contract offer he desired.

Toninato had a career-high 16 goals and 29 points for the Bulldogs last year. He could of interest to other teams.

Cameranesi played 74 games between Orlando of the ECHL and the Marlies, getting seven points in 31 games with the latter and appearing in one AHL playoff game.

LOOSE LEAFS

Forward Jeremy Bracco missed the last two days of camp with an illness ... Liljegren thought he was going to visit the CN Tower with fellow Swedish prospect Pierre Engvall, but Engvall's confession to a fear of heights put the trip in question ... Seventh-round pick Nikita Korostelev, a winger, and free agent defencenman Vladislav Yeryomenko, could not attend camp due to travel issues.

lhornby@postmedia.com