Mike Babcock knew that former Vancouver Canucks forward Shawn Matthias had been signed by the Maple Leafs when he addressed the media Monday, but didn’t want to say anything because it hadn’t been formally announced.

“They pay people to do that,” Babcock said.

Nonetheless, the Leafs head coach said he had been working on line combinations with Matthias, and without Phil Kessel, and setting expectations for the team as he prepares for this week’s prospects camp in Collingwood.

“You do (line combinations) all summer on a napkin, you watch the first exhibition game and you don’t like what you had on the napkin all summer, and you change it,” Babcock said.

Matthias signed a one-year deal, worth $2.3 million, after an 18-goal season in Vancouver. That deal happened after centre Nazem Kadri signed a one-year deal worth about $4.1 million.

“Most guys we signed to short-term deals,” Babcock said. “We get to watch them, they get to watch us. We get to decide whether we’re a fit together going forward.

“We’ve got to find a marquee defenceman to help us out, for sure. We’ll do that when the time is right.”

As for Kadri:

“I expect him to be an elite player,” Babcock said. “His training has got to match his skill set. That’s to all our guys. You can’t take the summer off. I expect our best players to be our hardest-working people to set the tone flat out. I’ve told them all that.”

Babcock will also be part of the Leafs prospects camp, which starts Tuesday with medicals. He won’t be on-ice, but he’ll be giving speeches to the 57 invitees.

“I’m going to talk to them about how they deal with the media,” said Babcock. “I’m going to talk to them about being a good human being and nutrition.

“To me it’s about building a program. Being a good human being, living right, training right, and handling the media right, those things all set you up for success.”

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