TORONTO — The pained, eyes-to-the-sky glances of Maple Leafs defencemen said it all.

Auston Matthews is back in town, displaying zero rust during his first summer scrimmage with the boys. He showed Friday he can stickhandle in a phone booth — if they were still around — and then come off the boards to make multiple dekes around defenders and tuck the puck past the goal line.

Of course, it’s about to get much harder for Matthews to maneuver, now that the NHL has seen how he dazzles. But, there’s lots of time and room for Matthews to grow into a premier centre. He’s still a teenager, at least for a couple of weeks.

If there’s a sophomore jinx perched like a buzzard outside the Air Canada Centre, it must first overcome a rested, robust Matthews, who has had none of last summer’s distractions these past few months.

No world championships, draft hype or busy appearance schedule that had him crisscrossing two continents from March until late June. No NHL scouting combine or a World Cup in September, filming TV bits or time needed to get settled in Toronto.

After coming off the ice Friday with Mitch Marner, Zach Hyman, Connor Brown, Nikita Zaitsev and the rest of the young Leafs, Matthews underlined how a quiet summer could help, approaching main Leaf camp in less than two weeks.

“For sure,” he said. “It was nice not having so much stuff going on around you, being so hectic with the combine, the draft and everything. It was more relaxing. It was nice to spend a little more time training.”

Matthews is singing the praises of Pilates, a fitness system designed to alleviate back pain and improve balance. It's an ideal workout for a 6-foot-2, 200-plus pounder who feels the slings and arrows for 82 regular season games.

“I focused a lot on body posture this summer,” Matthews said. “I started doing Pilates, just kind of opening myself up more a bit, being more upright and (with the goal of) avoiding other injuries.

“I think I’m more flexible (remember that dandy deke goal against Carolina with his legs split open by a trip?) and I feel more flexible. As far as training goes, it was the same as the last four years, the same person and it seems to work. I feel good and I’m pretty excited to get going.”

Matthews, who scored 40 goals as a rookie to set a Leaf record, has been almost off the radar in Arizona after the NHL awards, in which his first-place vote totals among writers ran 164-3, ahead of Winnipeg Jet Patrick Laine. He traveled a bit, mostly next door to his birth state in California.

“Nothing crazy,” he said of long journeys. “I haven’t spent too much time at home the past couple of summers. It was just nice to be home, in general.”

The Scottsdale native has a few days to get used to some game conditions before the main Leaf camp opens. Though he and Hyman had wonderful chemistry on and off the ice last season, the addition of Patrick Marleau has many figuring coach Mike Babcock will eventually get around to putting the veteran on Matthews’ left side ahead of the low-scoring Hyman, with William Nylander likely staying on the right.

Matthews had a brief talk with Marleau after the latter signed for three years and nearly $19 million US. Matthews, who turns 20 on Sept. 17, wasn’t even born when Marleau was drafted second overall in 1997 by San Jose.

“He‘s played 19 years, he’s been in the Stanley Cup finals, he knows how to win,” Matthews declared. “When I talked to him he was pretty excited to be here.

“All three of those guys we picked up are veterans who can definitely help us now, as a young team. They’re guys who’ve been there. Ron Hainsey won a Cup last year (in Pittsburgh), Dominic Moore is a Toronto native and been in the league a while.

“As an individual and as a team, we all want to take a step forward this season.”

MAKING PLAYOFFS 'NOT GOING TO BE EASY'

Auston Matthews is already adept at NHL math.

Last year at this time, few thought his Maple Leafs could make the playoffs, that is until Matthews began his Calder Trophy run and team-high 69 points with a four-goal debut. An impressionable group of talented rookies joined the march. Toronto’s old guard, which had struggled in previous seasons, played well and Frederik Andersen’s goaltending also factored into a 95-point year, the club’s first post-season berth in a full schedule since 2003-04.

But with the majority of pundits now calling on the Leafs to get back there with ease, a word of caution from young Matthews.

“Only 16 teams make it and it’s not going to be easy. We surprised some teams last year," he said Friday. "That doesn’t really matter now. It’s a new season, they’re going to know that we have some firepower and they’re not going to take us so lightly.”

Despite 40 wins, the Leafs were still a wild card entry last year. Florida and Tampa Bay, two strong teams who were stunned to be outsiders last April, are among clubs expected to be better in 2017-18. The Lightning were just a point away from Toronto at the end — without Steven Stamkos in the clutch — and the New York Islanders had 94 as well.

While others in the top eight in the East could fall in points, none are forecast to take a long tumble out of the running. The Leafs will need to keep making strides and avoid injuries.

lhornby@postmedia.com