Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk makes a save against Toronto Maple Leafs’ William Nylander in Toronto on March 3.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
The Toronto Maple Leafs lost the game – which isn't unusual of late – but as the big steel dressing room doors rolled opened on Monday night at Air Canada Centre, there was a strange sight.
Smiles – including huge ones on the four giddy young players who had played their first NHL game.
"It was pretty awesome," 19-year-old Kasperi Kapanen said after playing Tampa Bay. "I'm not going to lie."
Two nights later in Washington, Nikita Soshnikov scored his first NHL goal in his second-ever game, firing a bullet top corner that surprised everyone in the building. As he spun into the corner in celebration, he let out a giant "Whoo!" that startled linemates Nazem Kadri and Peter Holland.
They both laughed, right there on the ice, after the exuberant Russian kid got the Leafs to within a goal against the best team in hockey.
"I loved him," head coach Mike Babcock said of Soshnikov's play that night, another loss that the last-place Leafs had turned into a close decision by rallying after that goal. "He was for real."
The Leafs' record hasn't improved of late. Prior to the game against the Wild, they have only five wins in their past 24 games (5-16-3) and are on pace to finish right around last season's 68 points.
But what's new is an undeniable optimism in the dressing room, something driven by the play of the kids, who have joined the lineup en masse and given everyone a reason to watch the Leafs again.
The most interesting part of it all is that none of them have looked out of place.
Even with five rookie skaters and another starting in goal, the Leafs gave the Minnesota Wild a game on Thursday night. Garret Sparks made several big saves, and Kapanen and William Nylander connected early on a one-timer play that nearly became the opening goal.
Then Zach Hyman and Nylander did the same in the second period.
This was the Leafs' third game in a row against a playoff-bound team in which they kept the games close right to the end, including the first two when they had the goalie pulled and the kids on the ice. They outshot Tampa – the defending Eastern Conference champs – on Monday. They somehow managed the same against the NHL-leading Capitals on Wednesday.
In some areas, the Leafs look better without the Roman Polaks and Nick Spalings – the rental players dealt away before Monday's trade deadline – eating all the minutes. They're certainly faster. Already indoctrinated in Babcock's regimented system by way of the Toronto Marlies, they are also in the same position on the ice, but have the advantage of youthful legs and the adrenaline that comes with playing their first few NHL games.
That latter part may not last, but it's a boost of energy this team didn't get last season, when a more veteran group won only 11 of its final 51 games and was widely derided for giving up.
"They walk in bright-eyed, and they're smiling at everything, and they're looking around," greybeard Brooks Laich said of the youth movement. "It's just fun to be a part of."
"It's still hard to soak all of this in," said Brendan Leipsic, one of the rookies.
It's only three games, so jumping to any conclusions would obviously be premature. But it's difficult not to watch the young Leafs pushing the pace against the Lightning, Capitals and Wild and not wonder how far away this team really is from winning more of these games.
There have been some dire pronouncements from Toronto pundits this season that this scorched-earth rebuild will set the franchise up for five or six years of misery mitigated by lottery picks. If it gets to that point, however, something has gone seriously wrong.
The Leafs, after all, already have three recent top-eight picks who will be in the lineup next season – Morgan Rielly, Nylander and Mitch Marner – and another coming in June. There's significant talent there.
The bigger key will likely be making good decisions on their many second-, third- and fourth-round picks in coming drafts. Part of what's made the Edmonton tear-down so hard to build back up is they have only added high-end forwards at the top of the draft and either missed on later picks or traded those prospects early (including current Leaf Martin Marincin). Add in the other managerial blunders and you end up where the Oilers are: Set to miss the playoffs for the 10th season in a row, and picking in the top seven of the draft for the seventh straight year.
That doesn't appear to be the Leafs path, not with who's in charge and not with who's behind the bench. And so far, anyway, some of the players they've unearthed outside the top of the draft don't look half-bad.
Very early returns, yes. But good ones.