TORONTO – Having a season of professional hockey under his belt is already paying dividends for Auston Matthews.

For starters, he knew not to cram too much into his luggage as he left his parents’ home in Scottsdale, Ariz., over the weekend to make the move to Toronto.

“(I didn’t bring) too much,” Matthews said Tuesday. “I tried to learn from last year going to Zurich. I think I packed too much and that’s a much longer trip. I kind of slimmed down the suitcases this year.

“I have my Dad up here, so he kind of helped me out with just moving stuff and getting ready with all my luggage and everything.”

It promises to be a year of new experiences for the No. 1 overall draft pick. First up on his schedule is the World Cup of Hockey with Team North America, followed by a shortened Maple Leafs training camp and presumably his rookie season in the NHL.

Fortunately, the teenager can count on having a lot of support as he makes his way through it.

He says his father Brian will spend a good chunk of the season living with him in Toronto – “I think it’s important just to have him around and help me” – just as his mother, Ema, and sister, Alex, did last season while he played in Switzerland.

Ultimately, that experience should be the source of confidence as he makes the jump to the NHL.

Not only was Matthews the youngest player in a well-respected pro league, but he also put up 46 points in 36 games while skating for the Zurich Lions. For good measure, he followed it up by leading Team USA in scoring at the IIHF World Hockey Championship in May.

It was a performance so impressive that Team North America GM Peter Chiarelli offered him a spot on his World Cup roster after earlier dubbing him a longshot to make it.

That tournament will put Matthews on a big stage at the Air Canada Centre before he even officially reports to Leafs training camp. It’s an unusual scenario, but one the 18-year-old centre is excited about.

“I think it’s going to be a good learning experience for me,” said Matthews. “I mean it’s the best-on-best tournament. It’s going to be the highest level of hockey you can play. It’s definitely going to be an adjustment for me – just like the world championship was. It’s going to be a much faster pace of play, physical, so for me I just want to learn and get better each day.

“Continue just to progress over the tournament.”

The skating and puck-handling skills that made him a top draft pick were certainly evident at the Leafs training facility on Tuesday morning. Matthews went through two separate hour-long sessions with player development consultant Darryl Belfry and displayed his immense talent throughout.

He shared the ice with fellow prospects Connor Brown and Andrew Neilsen in the first session before joining Morgan Rielly and Mitch Marner in the second. In each case, the three players were put through an intricate series of drills that often saw them moving multiple pucks between them.

“It’s a lot of complicated stuff,” Matthews explained. “There’s three guys going with three pucks, so it definitely challenges you mentally. It definitely challenges your skillset to be able to read and react that much quicker. It’s all really useful stuff.

“Just being here for two days now, I’ve really learned a lot and it’s really progressed a lot.”

He’s already started getting comfortable in his new surroundings.

Matthews wore a practice sweater adorned with the big new Leafs logo that will be used this coming season – he still had the No. 63 on his helmet that he was given for development camp in July – and indicated that he hopes to lean on older teammates as he takes the next step in his career.

“It’s great to be out on the ice here and kind of get things rolling,” said Matthews. “Just to be in Toronto, it’s very exciting. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming World Cup and training camp and everything.

“It’s definitely an exciting time.”