It’s not often you will find Maple Leafs defenceman Connor Carrick without a smile on his face in the Maple Leafs dressing room.

It makes it harder to believe after he put on a pair of skates for the first time, he never wanted to wear them on again.

“All of my first memories of hockey were hating hockey because my skates were too narrow,” said Carrick. “So every memory of hockey I had then was my dad putting me on the net, tying up my skates and then untying them.”

Carrick’s feet were too wide for the skates. His father, Jory, wouldn’t let him quit. He bought wider skates and made him try it again.

“He told me ‘We signed up for the year,’ and you know how it is when you are four or five,” said Carrick. “Once he got me wider skates I just kind of fell in love with it.”

Despite growing up in a Chicago suburb, Carrick still found it hard to be a Blackhawks fan. The Blackhawks of the late 90’s/early 2000’s were not the perennial powerhouse they are today: they often struggled to find success in the post-season and games would routinely be blacked out on local television.

“They would maybe show one highlight that might be Blackhawks out of 10 every third week on SportsCenter, that was it,” said Carrick. “That and playoffs, they would show the teams that were always in the playoffs, Detroit, Colorado, New Jersey, those were the teams.”

Carrick quickly became an Avalanche supporter. He watched Colorado on television win their second Stanley Cup in 2001. He was only six years old and became an admirer of Joe Sakic. He was also a big fan Pavel Bure, often hunting down many different cards of the Russian Rocket at various trade shows.

Growing up idolizing skilled forwards, Carrick has always been an offensive-minded player. But it was when he realized how important puck possession was to the offensive players that Carrick began shifting his attention to the defensive side of the game.

“I probably didn’t really understand what defense really was until I was 15 or 16. I saw the guys on TV that everybody talked about who always have the puck on their stick. I didn’t realize how effective they were defensively, that’s why they had the puck on their stick all game,” said Carrick.

Acquired in a trade with the Washington Capitals in February, Carrick produced solid possession numbers (54.9 percent even-strength Corsi For in his 16 games for the Maple Leafs after the trade accoring to Hockey Reference) in line with the rest of the Maple Leafs who finished out the 2015-16 season. Carrick showed his offensive flair for the Toronto Marlies during the AHL playoffs, leading the team in scoring with 18 points in 15 playoff games.

Carrick spent a portion of last season paired with defenceman Jake Gardiner and that chemistry has carried over. The two have played together to start the year.

“We both finished last season well together and have continued to work on our breakouts and pushing out the puck,” said Gardiner.

It’s a small sample size, but Carrick leads all Maple Leafs defenceman in key puck possession indicators Corsi (60 percent) and Fenwick. (55.81 percent )

Carrick’s speed has become an asset, and his similar play to Gardiner’s is what has allowed for him to get noticed.

“The trend for pairs of defensemen seems to be that you have to be similar players or very different,” said Carrick. “In Ottawa, guys like (Marc) Methot and (Erik) Karlsson, very different players. But guys like me and Jake, we like to shoot, move the puck, skate around, it’s a similar approach.”

Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock likes what he sees in the defensive pairing of Carrick and Gardiner. With puck possession at a premium, both players are ensuring they will play together for some time.

Carrick is enjoying the spot and continues to grow as a player. His position within the Maple Leafs youth movement as younger, largely reliable defenceman is clear for now. His enthusiasm for the game should also carry him far.