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“In our situation, we need him to be a dominant, dominant centre for us,” Babcock said following Tuesday’s morning skate. “We think he’s going to be that by Christmas time.

“We think he’s a very good player already, but we think he can be lights-out, both with and without the puck. He takes a lot of pride in himself.”

That’s quite a mouthful from Babcock, but digest it and other than the hint of hyperbole, there’s plenty to like about Matthews’ growth.

Who knows how much the 19-year-old would be producing if he had started his NHL career on the wing, which isn’t always a bad move for a would-be centre getting his feet under him.

Instead, Babcock got right down to business of grooming his No. 1 centre, putting him in key situations down the middle throughout his 16 games. In the interest of Matthews’ confidence, would you rather have had the slump end five games ago? Sure you would.

But given the opportunities Matthews has been getting (leads all rookies with 63 shot on goal) and his improvement in the faceoff circle, it’s not as if the No. 1 overall pick is stagnating.

He still gets to the net. He still has opportunities. On Tuesday, he led the Leafs with five shots on goal and nine shot attempts.

One of his better plays, you could argue, was a quick move inside the Predators’ blueline early in the third period that resulted in a good scoring chance that ended with a show just high and wide.

The time to worry about Auston Matthews is nowhere near. A dominating centre by Christmas? Perhaps optimistic. But given the learning opportunities Matthews is getting, he’s well on his way.