Marner expects big season for Leafs: ‘We’re going to be better than last year’

You've heard this before: The Toronto Maple Leafs are on the come up.

Touting one of the finest young crops of players in the NHL, the Leafs are no longer a pushover club. A lot of that rejuvenation has to do with rookies like Mitch Marner.

Marner recognizes that in a hockey-crazed market like Toronto, an improved on-ice product means expectations off the ice are heightened: "Everyone just keeps telling me how many wins they want," Marner told Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun.

"But, it will be fun coming in here, believing in each other, believing in the one beside us. We do that and play the way we can, we’re going to be better than last year."

While Marner turned heads league-wide last season with his slick hands and offensive ability (19 goals and 42 assists), he realizes he'll need to become more of a two-way player in order for Mike Babcock to play him at crucial moments.

"You want to be out there to get a game tied so you can win it in overtime," said Marner. "You want a bigger role, go out on every shift like it’s your last. "Defense has always been important to me, it was always taught first. You’re always trying to see the guy coming in so they can’t back-door us."

Following a year in which Toronto qualified for the playoffs only one season removed from finishing dead last, the Leafs won't be surprising teams during this campaign compared to last.

That fact isn't lost on Marner.

"Last year, people didn’t know how we were going to," Marner said. "Now, we have to expect a hard game every night and that people will bring their 'A' game against us. We have to be ready."

The rest of the hockey world will find out if the Leafs are indeed "ready" when they kick off their regular-season schedule Oct. 4 with a visit to Winnipeg to take on the Jets.

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Federer praises Devils’ ‘unbelievably talented’ Hischier

Few athletes in the world of professional sports have the talent with which Roger Federer is blessed.

So, when the 19-time major champion chimed in with his assessment of countryman and New Jersey Devils forward Nico Hischier, people paid attention.

"I mean, look, we're very happy in Switzerland that we have such a great hockey player in the starting blocks who is hopefully going to be a great, great player," Federer said, according to Jeff Eisenband of The Post Game. "Hope he stays healthy. I'm only hearing great things about him. He's a good guy. Unbelievably talented.

"People predict a great future ahead of him. I had the same. It's always easy to predict. But he's the guy who has to put in the work and be the guy who does it every single night on the ice."

While Federer has been competing on the world's biggest stage for nearly two decades, Hischier is just embarking on his career.

And, while the buzz around Hischier's debut has been substantial, Federer was quick to caution the 18-year-old rookie about the noise that comes along with being pegged "The Next One."

"That's the tough thing about it. It's always easy for people to talk, predict you're going to be world No.1, best goal-scorer," said Federer. "Doesn't matter. You have to put your head down and just work as hard as you possibly can."

With New Jersey set to open training camp in a matter of days, Hischier might be wise to lean on his Swiss counterpart for some advice. Guidance that Federer is more than willing to provide.

"If he has questions, I'm always happy to help," Federer said. " ... But I wish him all the very best."

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Fantasy: UPDATED Standard League Rankings – Top 250

Here's the first update to the 2017-18 standard-league rankings. Updates will continue throughout training camps and the preseason as depth charts and roles become more clear.

These rankings apply to standard leagues. Yahoo! scoring counts goals, assists, plus/minus, penalty minutes, power-play points, and shots on goal for skaters. Goaltender stats consist of wins, goals-against average, save percentage, and shutouts.

Positional eligibility may vary by fantasy site.

Top 250

Rk. Player Team Pos. Trend
1 Connor McDavid EDM C
2 Sidney Crosby PIT C
3 Erik Karlsson OTT
4 Steven Stamkos TB
5 Brent Burns SJ
6 Sergei Bobrovsky CLB G ▲ 
7 Alex Ovechkin WAS LW 
8 Nicklas Backstrom WAS
9 Nikita Kucherov TB RW 
10 Braden Holtby WAS
11 Jack Eichel BUF
12 Brad Marchand BOS LW 
13 Patrick Kane CHI RW
14 Evgeni Malkin PIT
15 Victor Hedman TB
16 Devan Dubnyk MIN
17 Jamie Benn DAL LW 
18 Tyler Seguin DAL C/RW
19 John Tavares NYI
20 Auston Matthews TOR
21 Vladimir Tarasenko STL RW
22 Mark Scheifele WPG
23 Matt Murray PIT
24 Carey Price MTL G
25 Cam Talbot EDM
26 Cam Atkinson CLB RW
27 Patrik Laine WPG RW
28 Joe Pavelski SJ C/RW
29 Alexander Radulov DAL RW 
30 Artemi Panarin CLB C/LW 
31 P.K. Subban NAS
32 Jonathan Huberdeau FLA LW
33 Kris Letang PIT
34 Filip Forsberg NAS LW
35 Phil Kessel PIT RW 
36 Claude Giroux PHI
37 Shea Weber MTL
38 Blake Wheeler WPG RW ▲ 
39 Johnny Gaudreau CGY LW 
40 David Pastrnak BOS RW 
41 Dustin Byfuglien WPG
42 Evgeny Kuznetsov WAS
43 Ryan Getzlaf ANA C
44 Patrice Bergeron BOS C
45 Leon Draisaitl EDM C/RW ▼ 
46 Sean Monahan CGY
47 Wayne Simmonds PHI RW
48 Jeff Skinner CAR LW ▲ 
49 Max Pacioretty MTL LW
50 Tuukka Rask BOS G
51 Roman Josi NAS D
52 Aleksander Barkov FLA C
53 Kevin Shattenkirk NYR D
54 Jeff Carter LA C
55 John Klingberg DAL D
56 Jonathan Drouin MTL LW/RW
57 Ryan Johansen NAS C
58 Andrei Vasilevskiy TB
59 Zach Werenski CLB
60 Jakub Voracek PHI RW 
61 Nikolaj Ehlers WPG LW
62 Sebastian Aho CAR LW/RW
63 Corey Perry ANA RW
64 Pekka Rinne NAS G
65 Mikael Granlund MIN C/RW
66 Ben Bishop DAL G
67 Duncan Keith CHI D
68 Martin Jones SJ G
69 Taylor Hall NJ LW
70 Mitchell Marner TOR C/RW
71 John Gibson ANA G
72 Mike Hoffman OTT LW/RW
73 T.J. Oshie WAS RW
74 Viktor Arvidsson NAS LW/RW ▲ 
75 Jake Allen STL G
76 Jonathan Quick LA G
77 Oliver Ekman-Larsson ARI D
78 Dougie Hamilton CGY D
79 Rickard Rakell ANA C/LW
80 Nathan MacKinnon COL C
81 Shayne Gostisbehere PHI D ▲ 
82 Logan Couture SJ C
83 Jonathan Toews CHI C
84 Jordan Eberle NYI RW
85 Rasmus Ristolainen BUF D
86 Henrik Lundqvist NYR G
87 Justin Schultz PIT D
88 Craig Anderson OTT G
89 Anze Kopitar LA C
90 Ryan Kesler ANA C
91 Jason Spezza DAL C/RW
92 Ryan Suter MIN D
93 John Carlson WAS D ▲ 
94 Brayden Schenn STL C/LW
95 Mike Smith CGY G
96 Drew Doughty LA D
97 Ryan O'Reilly BUF C
98 Frederik Andersen TOR G
99 Eric Staal MIN C
100 Brandon Saad CHI LW
101 Nazem Kadri TOR C
102 Mark Stone OTT RW
103 Cory Schneider NJ G ▲ 
104 Corey Crawford CHI G
105 Scott Darling CAR G
106 Martin Hanzal DAL C ▼ 
107 Henrik Zetterberg DET C/LW
108 Anders Lee NYI LW
109 Robin Lehner BUF G
110 Torey Krug BOS D ▼  
111 James Neal VGK LW/RW 
112 Aaron Ekblad FLA
113 Jakob Silfverberg ANA RW 
114 Colton Parayko STL D
115 Alex Galchenyuk MTL C/LW
116 James van Riemsdyk TOR LW 
117 Ondrej Palat TB LW
118 Mark Giordano CGY D
119 Alexander Wennberg CLB
120 Bryan Little WPG C ▲ 
121 Nino Niederreiter MIN LW/RW 
122 Kyle Okposo BUF RW 
123 Tyler Toffoli LA C/RW 
124 Kyle Palmieri NJ RW
125 Oscar Klefbom EDM
126 Zach Parise MIN LW 
127 Kyle Turris OTT
128 Marcus Johansson NJ LW 
129 Patric Hornqvist PIT RW
130 Alex Pietrangelo STL
131 Jake Guentzel PIT C/LW
132 Mika Zibanejad NYR
133 Vincent Trocheck FLA C
134 Matt Duchene COL C/RW
135 Mats Zuccarello NYR RW
136 Tyler Johnson TB
137 Mikko Koivu MIN C
138 William Nylander TOR C/RW
139 Matthew Tkachuk CGY LW
140 Andre Burakovsky WAS LW/RW
141 Justin Faulk CAR
142 Derek Stepan ARI C
143 Anthony Mantha DET LW/RW
144 Roberto Luongo FLA G ▼ 
145 Milan Lucic EDM LW 
146 Travis Konecny PHI C/LW
147 Ryan McDonagh NYR
148 Jaden Schwartz STL LW 
149 Nick Foligno CLB LW/RW
150 Evgeny Dadonov FLA RW 
151 Chris Kreider NYR LW 
152 Keith Yandle FLA
153 Dylan Larkin DET C/RW  
154 Ryan Strome EDM C/RW 
155 Nolan Patrick PHI
156 Nick Schmaltz CHI C/LW
157 Sam Reinhart BUF C/RW
158 Victor Rask CAR
159 Patrick Sharp CHI LW/RW 
160 Mikko Rantanen COL LW/RW
161 Seth Jones CLB D
162 Brian Elliott PHI
163 David Krejci BOS C
164 Marc-Andre Fleury VGK G
165 Nico Hischier NJ
166 Nick Bonino NAS C
167 Richard Panik CHI LW/RW
168 Antti Raanta ARI G
169 Mathew Barzal NYI
170 Radim Vrbata FLA RW 
171 Boone Jenner CLB C/LW
172 Conor Sheary PIT LW/RW 
173 Patrick Marleau TOR C/LW 
174 Charlie McAvoy BOS
175 Brady Skjei NYR
176 Jesse Puljujarvi EDM RW 
177 Charlie Coyle MIN C/RW 
178 Brendan Gallagher MTL RW
179 Shea Theodore VGK
180 Kevin Fiala NAS LW/RW 
181 Alexander Steen STL C/LW 
182 Tomas Hertl SJ C/LW
183 Jonathan Marchessault VGK C/LW 
184 Robby Fabbri STL C/LW
185 Sami Vatanen ANA
186 Gabriel Landeskog COL LW 
187 Nick Bjugstad FLA C/RW
188 Vadim Shipachyov VGK C/LW
189 Paul Stastny STL
190 Patrick Maroon EDM LW 
191 Dmitry Orlov WAS
192 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins EDM C
193 Daniel Sedin VAN LW 
194 Gustav Nyquist DET LW/RW 
195 Pierre-Luc Dubois CLB LW
196 Jakub Vrana WAS LW/RW
197 Evander Kane BUF LW 
198 Matt Dumba MIN
199 Teuvo Teravainen CAR C/LW 
200 Bobby Ryan OTT RW 
201 Artem Anisimov CHI
202 Joshua Ho-Sang NYI RW 
203 Elias Lindholm CAR C/RW 
204 Rick Nash NYR LW/RW 
205 Joe Thornton SJ
206 Cam Fowler ANA
207 Bo Horvat VAN C
208 Kyle Connor WPG LW ▲ 
209 Connor Hellebuyck WPG
210 Jimmy Vesey NYR LW 
211 Justin Williams CAR RW
212 Anthony Duclair ARI LW/RW
213 Tomas Tatar DET LW/RW
214 Derick Brassard OTT
215 J.T. Miller NYR LW/RW 
216 Tanner Pearson LA LW
217 Tyson Barrie COL
218 Ryan Ellis NAS D ▲ 
219 Tyler Bozak TOR
220 Ryan Pulock NYI
221 Ivan Provorov PHI
222 Kevin Hayes NYR C/RW 
223 Patrick Eaves ANA RW
224 Matt Niskanen WAS
225 Max Domi ARI LW 
226 Mathieu Perreault WPG C/LW 
227 Clayton Keller ARI C
228 Ryan Miller ANA
229 Tyson Jost COL
230 Jake Muzzin LA
231 Thomas Greiss NYI
232 Jason Zucker MIN LW/RW
233 Jake Gardiner TOR D
234 Jaromir Jagr UFA RW ▼ 
235 Jared Spurgeon MIN
236 Pavel Zacha NJ C/LW
237 Jason Pominville BUF RW
238 Ryan Spooner BOS C/LW
239 Dylan Strome ARI C
240 Josh Manson ANA
241 Mattias Janmark DAL C
242 Juuse Saros NAS
243 Sonny Milano CLB LW 
244 Travis Sanheim PHI D
245 Jacob Trouba WPG D
246 Damon Severson NJ D
247 Mike Green DET
248 Will Butcher NJ D
249 Zdeno Chara BOS
250 Sean Couturier PHI C

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Bruins’ Bergeron: ‘I’ll be ready for camp’ after offseason surgery

At the completion of Boston's season in April, Bruins centerman Patrice Bergeron revealed that he played through the 2016-17 campaign with a sports hernia issue that ended up requiring offseason surgery.

Despite the injury, Bergeron produced respectable offensive numbers (21 goals, 32 assists) while earning his fourth Selke Trophy as the games' best defensive forward. And, following a summer of rehab, Bergeron finally feels healthy once again.

"Still doing some rehab. I'll be ready for camp," said Bergeron, according to Matt Kalman of NHL.com. "I feel good. There's still some restriction there that we have to work on, but overall, I feel pretty good. I feel good on the ice, I feel good in the gym.

"We still have to definitely do some treatments, but definitely I feel good and I know I'll be ready for camp."

While Bergeron admits he still has work to do to get back to 100 percent, he was also open about how the injury affected his production last campaign.

" ... It was hard that way, it was in my head also, but once I was past that hurdle of realizing it's going to be there for the whole year and just kind of not worrying about it, I felt better," Bergeron said.

"But that being said, it's still one of those where - it's not an excuse for the slow start I had and missing some chances - but still it was slowing me down a bit and was just annoying."

Regardless of last season's dip in offense, Bergeron is still one of the best two-way forwards in the game and an integral part of the Bruins' core. A healthy Bergeron to start the year can only mean good things for Boston.

"Hopefully I'll have a better start," he said. "That being said, I'm trying to get back to my game, playing both ways. You always want to push your limits, be better offensively but also defensively and in every aspect of the game."

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

5 things we’re still waiting for in this offseason

We're just over a month away from the start of the NHL season, but a handful of summer subplots remain unresolved.

Several high-profile players are still awaiting new contracts, whether they be extensions on their existing deals or brand-new pacts for some aging players.

A talented center who's been the subject of trade talks for months hasn't been moved, and a longtime NHL winger is likely pondering his future after seeing a fellow veteran call it a career.

Here are five things we're still itching to see this summer:

Someone needs to sign Jagr already

Seriously, how is Jaromir Jagr still out there?

Yes, he's old. Yes, he's probably looking for a decent chunk of change. But hasn't he earned it?

Jagr's exploits are well documented. He's the NHL's third all-time leading goal-scorer and ranks second on the league's career points list.

The 45-year-old scored 16 goals and played in all 82 games last season. It was his third and final campaign with the Florida Panthers, who cut ties with the living legend on July 1, officially putting him on the open market.

But numbers side, the mere act of signing Jagr would be a major public relations victory and a boon to a club's marketing efforts.

Somebody needs to step up to the plate and get his signature on the dotted line.

Eichel, Sabres need to agree on money

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Unlike Jagr, Jack Eichel is still under contract, but the young Buffalo Sabres star could enter the final season of his entry-level deal without an extension in hand.

Sabres general manager Jason Botterill said last week that both sides want the maximum amount of term on a potential new agreement, which under NHL rules would be for eight years.

The issue, then, is the cash, and that aspect of the negotiations has more than likely been impacted by the recent extensions signed by Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid and his talented teammate, Leon Draisaitl.

Still, the market has been established, and the Sabres need to recognize that. They can avoid the in-season distraction that the lingering talks would cause by paying their franchise player what he deserves before the puck drops again this fall.

Pastrnak needs an extension, too

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

The Boston Bruins have their contract quandary with a young star to worry about.

David Pastrnak is a restricted free agent, so there's even more urgency to resolve his impasse than there is regarding Eichel in western New York.

The promising 21-year-old's agent, J.P. Barry, said Thursday that talks will pick up Friday, and frankly, it's about time they did. Barry revealed he's going to request an eight-year deal, which would be for a year or two more than the club reportedly offered them earlier this summer.

In other words, Pastrnak's response to apparently being offered far less than he's worth ($6 million per season) is to seek a deal for the maximum amount of term allowable under the NHL's CBA.

This is how negotiations work, and this particular one will likely culminate with the two sides meeting somewhere in the middle, but surely they could have gotten there by now.

Will Iginla follow Doan's lead?

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Now that Shane Doan is retired, the attention shifts to Jarome Iginla.

After the Los Angeles Kings' season ended in disappointing fashion back in April, the 40-year-old said he was interested in playing another campaign.

But that was more than four months ago, and Iginla is an unrestricted free agent still searching for a new contract as autumn approaches.

Iginla had his moments with the Kings but failed to muster much production with the moribund Colorado Avalanche prior to the deadline deal that sent him to Hollywood.

There would be no shame for Iginla in bidding farewell to the NHL, and Team Canada will consider him for the 2018 Olympics if he goes that route, but he's certainly entitled to take his time to make such an important decision.

Will a Duchene trade ever happen?

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Matt Duchene has been on the block since at least last winter, so why hasn't a deal been consumated?

Talks have seemingly heated up on numerous occasions, but there have also been plenty of lulls in negotiations, which is where we appear to be now.

The Avalanche might be better served waiting until the 2018 trade deadline to maximize the return on a deal, but after the 2017 deadline passed without a Duchene move, the forward said there was "probably a good chance" a trade would be made this summer.

The end of the offseason is on the horizon, and a deal obviously hasn't happened yet, but the Avalanche clearly have no problem dragging this on until they get the package they want.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

5 things we’re still waiting for in this offseason

We're just over a month away from the start of the NHL season, but a handful of summer subplots remain unresolved.

Several high-profile players are still awaiting new contracts, whether they be extensions on their existing deals or brand-new pacts for some aging players.

A talented center who's been the subject of trade talks for months hasn't been moved, and a longtime NHL winger is likely pondering his future after seeing a fellow veteran call it a career.

Here are five things we're still itching to see this summer:

Someone needs to sign Jagr already

Seriously, how is Jaromir Jagr still out there?

Yes, he's old. Yes, he's probably looking for a decent chunk of change. But hasn't he earned it?

Jagr's exploits are well documented. He's the NHL's third all-time leading goal-scorer and ranks second on the league's career points list.

The 45-year-old scored 16 goals and played in all 82 games last season. It was his third and final campaign with the Florida Panthers, who cut ties with the living legend on July 1, officially putting him on the open market.

But numbers side, the mere act of signing Jagr would be a major public relations victory and a boon to a club's marketing efforts.

Somebody needs to step up to the plate and get his signature on the dotted line.

Eichel, Sabres need to agree on money

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Unlike Jagr, Jack Eichel is still under contract, but the young Buffalo Sabres star could enter the final season of his entry-level deal without an extension in hand.

Sabres general manager Jason Botterill said last week that both sides want the maximum amount of term on a potential new agreement, which under NHL rules would be for eight years.

The issue, then, is the cash, and that aspect of the negotiations has more than likely been impacted by the recent extensions signed by Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid and his talented teammate, Leon Draisaitl.

Still, the market has been established, and the Sabres need to recognize that. They can avoid the in-season distraction that the lingering talks would cause by paying their franchise player what he deserves before the puck drops again this fall.

Pastrnak needs an extension, too

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

The Boston Bruins have their contract quandary with a young star to worry about.

David Pastrnak is a restricted free agent, so there's even more urgency to resolve his impasse than there is regarding Eichel in western New York.

The promising 21-year-old's agent, J.P. Barry, said Thursday that talks will pick up Friday, and frankly, it's about time they did. Barry revealed he's going to request an eight-year deal, which would be for a year or two more than the club reportedly offered them earlier this summer.

In other words, Pastrnak's response to apparently being offered far less than he's worth ($6 million per season) is to seek a deal for the maximum amount of term allowable under the NHL's CBA.

This is how negotiations work, and this particular one will likely culminate with the two sides meeting somewhere in the middle, but surely they could have gotten there by now.

Will Iginla follow Doan's lead?

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Now that Shane Doan is retired, the attention shifts to Jarome Iginla.

After the Los Angeles Kings' season ended in disappointing fashion back in April, the 40-year-old said he was interested in playing another campaign.

But that was more than four months ago, and Iginla is an unrestricted free agent still searching for a new contract as autumn approaches.

Iginla had his moments with the Kings but failed to muster much production with the moribund Colorado Avalanche prior to the deadline deal that sent him to Hollywood.

There would be no shame for Iginla in bidding farewell to the NHL, and Team Canada will consider him for the 2018 Olympics if he goes that route, but he's certainly entitled to take his time to make such an important decision.

Will a Duchene trade ever happen?

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Matt Duchene has been on the block since at least last winter, so why hasn't a deal been consumated?

Talks have seemingly heated up on numerous occasions, but there have also been plenty of lulls in negotiations, which is where we appear to be now.

The Avalanche might be better served waiting until the 2018 trade deadline to maximize the return on a deal, but after the 2017 deadline passed without a Duchene move, the forward said there was "probably a good chance" a trade would be made this summer.

The end of the offseason is on the horizon, and a deal obviously hasn't happened yet, but the Avalanche clearly have no problem dragging this on until they get the package they want.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.