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As the holder of a business degree, you know Marcus Power has a good head for numbers. So when he adds the number of players currently at the Toronto Marlies’ training camp with those yet to be assigned to the American Hockey League team, he has to realize he’s in tough to crack the opening-day roster.

But Power has been in the Marlies’ mix this pre-season and that says something. The 26-year-old forward from St. John’s is the only member of the ECHL champion Newfoundland Growlers to get promoted from an ECHL contract to an AHL deal in the off-season, meaning whatever happens, the parent Toronto Maple Leafs see him as an AHL calibre player, or at least one worthy of a chance to move up a level.

“I was grateful for that,” said Power, who had 57 points in 58 regular-season games as a professional rookie in 2018-19.

“I had my own expectations last year and I thought I did pretty well, so getting rewarded with a better contract, it was great. And it was an incentive to keep improving.”

After participating in the opening days of the Maple Leafs main camp in St. John’s and Paradise, Power was among the first assignees to the Marlies, who began their own camp in Etobicoke, Ont., on Tuesday.

He was one of 39 players — about two-thirds of them with contracts — on the AHL club’s original camp roster. Another seven have since been sent down by the Leafs and the NHL team still has around 20 more cuts to make.

Power was well-aware of the glut of signed players in the Toronto organization; he is one of 22 signed to AHL contracts alone, the most of any team. Taking into account all the players on NHL deals still to be demoted to the Marlies, the competition for a few open spots is, and will be, fierce.

“It definitely came into my thinking (when offered the new contract), but the way they treat their players right through Toronto’s organization made it easy to stay yes,” said Power. “(In the Leafs’ system), the ECHL players get treated better than they would on a lot of AHL teams.

“That’s something that got around the league very quickly last year.

“So, if you’re going to be down in the ECHL, there is no better place to be, and especially for me, since it means I get to play at home.”

The sessions in Paradise weren’t Power’s first NHL training camp experience. He attended the Colorado Avalanche’s full camp on an invitation in 2014 in between his time in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and the start of his four-year stay at the University of Prince Edward Island.

That helped a bit in acclimating himself to the level of play, but he still admits there was a bit of a ‘wow” factor.

“Just a great experience,” he said. “The need for speed on the ice is great, so to be able to do that means it's a great way to start the season, and to get to go on the ice with a coach like (the Leafs’ Mike Babcock) is amazing.”

It also was a boon to come into camp just a couple of months after helping the Growlers to an ECHL crown in their first-ever season.

Power played some of his best hockey over the last six weeks of the regular schedule, when the Growlers were looking to establish playoff position, getting at least a point in 14 of the last 16 games and 20 points overall during that stretch. He added another 15 points in the Growlers’ 21-game march to the Kelly Cup.

So when asked what was the biggest difference between Marcus Power in September, 2018 to Marcus Power 12 months later, he had a quick, short response.

“He’s a champion,” said Power. “That helps your confidence, because now you know the effort that needs to be put in to win the ultimate prize, and that you can produce that effort.”

He’s looking at getting the chance to display that effort with the Marlies, if not at the start of the season, perhaps after what would be his first call-up to the AHL.

“If it’s (back with the Growlers), it’s a great situation for me,” he observed. “I’m not going to say playing at home was the main reason I signed (with the Leafs) organization, but it was a factor.

“I enjoy being home, playing at home, but obviously, if I want to move up, it will mean going somewhere else. And that is my goal. I’m happy with the Growlers, but I don’t want to be comfortable with just that.”

brendan.mccarthy@thetelegram.com

Twitter: @telybrendan