All eyes will be on Mitch Marner this weekend when the Maple Leafs’ top prospects suit up in blue and white for a game for the first time at the team’s rookie tournament in London, Ont., where Marner became a star with the OHL Knights.

Marner will play centre — as will William Nylander — in the three-game, four-team tournament.

“Trying to make the big team starts this weekend,” Marner said. “It’s the first look they get at you in a game. They see how much work you put in and the results you put up.

“The most important thing . . . go out there and do the best I can and play the game I know how to play.”

Nylander, coming to his second rookie tournament, seemed less brash and more humble than a year ago.

“I’m trying to learn and work hard,” Nylander said. “If I make the Leafs, I’ll be happy, and if I don’t I’ll work just as hard with the Marlies.”

Unlike previous rookie tournaments — which have become a staple for all teams across the league over the past 10 years — the Leafs have a fair amount of high-end talent in their room.

VOTE!

Twenty-nine players — 17 forwards, 10 defencemen and two goalies — reported to the MasterCard Centre on Thursday for practice before heading to London for the weekend. In that group are four former first-round picks — Marner, (fourth overall, 2015), Nylander (eighth, 2014), Kasperi Kapanen (22nd, 2014), and Frederik Gauthier (21st, 2013).

“There’s a lot of skill from this most-recent draft,” said Sheldon Keefe, the Marlies coach who will be behind the bench for the rookies. “There’s a lot of reasons to be excited about that. As a coach, you want to be able to work with skill. We’ve got that. This weekend through our interactions with the players, we want to make sure they have a clear understanding of the work habits and what it takes to be a pro.

“That can take these skilled players to the next level, adjust to what is necessary to play within the system here.”

The Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators will also play in the tournament at Budweiser Gardens.

It’s not unusual for a player in rookie camp to crack the NHL the same season. In the Leafs’ case, they hope by having more high-end prospects, it will mean more competition for jobs, with each pushing the other to be better.

And as bad as the Leafs might be, cracking the Leafs lineup promises to be harder than year’s past. The team loaded up with veterans through free agency and trades — adding Shawn Matthias, Mark Arcobello, P.A. Parenteau and Nick Spaling — and have extended training camp invitations to Brad Boyes and Curtis Glencross.

“Trying to take a spot on an NHL team will be tough,” Nylander said. “I’m just trying to do my best and whatever happens, happens.”

The Leafs have historically been weak at centre. Gauthier is a natural centre, but more defensive and not as skilled as some others. The team seems to be committing to both Marner and Nylander — their highest-skilled prospects -— that they will get a long look at centre.

“It doesn’t really matter to me, winger or centre, I’ve played both,” said Marner, now listed by the team at six feet despite having been drafted at five-foot-11. “Wherever they want to put me, I can play it.”

Marner figures he will play the wing to start off as a pro and move to centre eventually. Nylander is a centre already.

“Wing or centre, it doesn’t matter,” said Nylander. “I like getting the puck. Playing centre, you usually get the puck on the stick. That’s one of the reasons I like playing centre.”

Nothing is for sure, but neither are expected to make the Leafs this year. Nylander would return to the Marlies, where he had an impressive late-season finish and where he could continue to hone his skills as a centre.

Marner is most likely destined to return to the junior Knights and would appear to be a lock for a spot with Canada’s world junior team. That can be a very good thing for Marner, says Keefe.

“This is another experience for him,” said Keefe. “He’s been through a lot this summer, world junior camp, the draft. He’s been a prominent player in the OHL. We just want him to play.”

Marner is certain to get an invitation to the Leafs’ main camp, which begins Thursday. He will wear No. 84 for the tournament.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“I walked in to the dressing room and it was there,” said Marner, more familiar to Knights fans with 93 — a number associated with Marner’s hero, Doug Gilmour. No Leaf has worn 93 since Gilmour.

“It was up to them,” said Marner. “It doesn’t really matter.”

And he’s also got a few butterflies about this weekend.

“It’s pretty exciting for sure, my first game as a Leaf,” he said. “It’s the town I played in for three years. I’m sure it will be a lot of fun.”

Read more about: