Training camp is done, with final cuts to come, but the truth is that Auston Matthews has been ready for his second season as a Maple Leaf for weeks, if not months.

The National Hockey League was put on notice in 2016-17, when Matthews steamrolled to 40 goals and the Calder Trophy; in a quiet moment Saturday morning at the MasterCard Centre, Matthews determined what he expects from himself as an NHL sophomore.

“I want to be elite, elite of the elites,” Matthews told the Toronto Sun after he shed his equipment at his stall in the Leafs dressing room. “I worked all summer to put myself into that position, and I feel good heading into the regular season.

“I want to be the best player I can be.”

While there is little sense in putting much stock in pre-season statistics, Matthews finished where you might have guessed he would, among the NHL’s scoring leaders with seven points (five goals and two assists) in four games. Matthews took a cue from what he was able to do as a rookie: Score, perhaps not quite at will, but close to it.

Matthews’ potential gives Leafs Nation a source of pride — and a true sense of optimism — that it hasn't felt in years. What should bring the thousands of Leafs fans across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond greater happiness is the simple fact the 20-year-old won’t continue to lead the team up the NHL ladder, and, as many are thinking, into perennial Stanley Cup-contender status, carrying the full burden on his shoulders.

William Nylander (who also recorded seven points in four pre-season games) and Mitch Marner give the Leafs a trio of second-year players that makes many NHL teams envious, and there’s depth throughout the organization that hasn’t existed before.

Matthews will be at the forefront and is best among his teammates, but he won’t have to go it alone.

“I don’t think that’s ever the case for anybody,” Matthews said. “It’s not golf or tennis. It’s a team sport. It’s going to take a full team effort.

“You see the teams that win in the past — they have depth up the middle, depth on the back end, they have solid wingers and they make it work however they can.

“They are well-coached. We have a lot of the potential to be in that category. It’s up to us to make it happen.”

Matthews’ linemate Zach Hyman, who as a youngster growing up in Toronto idolized the likes of Mats Sundin, Curtis Joseph, Darcy Tucker — really, any player who was important on those strong early-2000s Pat Quinn teams — has an idea of what the average Leafs fan is thinking when Matthews skates into view.

“You look for players to emulate and be a role model and Auston is a guy who young kids gravitate to because of his skill set, his accolades,” Hyman said.

“I think he just does a great job of being humble about it and going about his day. It’s obvious why people would gravitate to someone like Auston.”

With a day off looming for the Leafs on Sunday, the 23 players coach Mike Babcock and general manager Lou Lamoriello will have settled on to start the season will gather for practice on Monday to begin to seriously prepare for the Winnipeg Jets in the season opener on Wednesday. The home opener comes on Saturday against the New York Rangers.

Matthews can’t wait to play meaningful games, can’t wait to meet the expectations he has placed upon himself head on.

“I want to take a step forward,” Matthews said. “The ultimate goal is to make it back (to the playoffs) and push ourselves to get a little farther this time. We got a taste of it and I think it left us pretty hungry for more.

“Everybody is pretty excited to get going.”

CONFIDENCE MAN

Connor Carrick is prepared to go through a wall.

In a sense.

The Maple Leafs defenceman acknowledged his confidence was fleeting when he returned to the lineup after missing a month with an upper-body injury late last season. Keeping it is the challenge.

“If having confidence at the NHL level is plaguing your career, the best way to get over that is to have success in the NHL,” Carrick said. “You can try to kind of cheat it, guys get sent down to refine their game, whatever, go overseas, come back. But I think the best way is to go right through that wall.

“True confidence comes from your process, knowing your wherewithal as a player and really believing in the level you can achieve as a player.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

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