Let’s Take a Moment to Celebrate Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner’s Budding Friendship
You guys: the Toronto Maple Leafs are actually kinda good. Like, what? Do you even understand how weird it is for me to type that sentence right there? I literally have not felt this positively about a Leafs squad since my biggest concerns in life were passing my French quiz on Monday and keeping my cracking voice under control long enough to ask my crush to the Halloween dance. As we speak, the Buds are sitting in third in the Atlantic Division — just a single point behind the Boston Bruins for second place with five games in hand — having won 10 of their last 13 games.
That success is largely thanks to the team’s trust in their high-flying rookies, led by last year’s number-one overall pick Auston Matthews and 2016 Memorial Cup MVP Mitch Marner. Matthews is currently leading all rookies in points with 38, and Marner is nipping at his heels with 36 of his own. But beyond their on-ice dominance, the two 19-year-olds (!) are also establishing themselves as a buddy comedy duo for the ages.
You may remember, for instance, the time they were caught on camera performing a Bon Jovi duet:
Or perhaps you were touched by the time they wore matching outfits and attempted to hold Tyler Bozak’s screaming baby:
And who could forget when they palled around with fellow rooks William Nylander and Zach Hyman at Toronto’s Christmas Market?
But the pair’s latest interactions might actually be their finest. Just last week, during the NHL’s midseason break, Auston delivered a killer chirp on one of Mitch’s vacation pics:
Auston Matthews with the All-Star calibre chirp on Mitch Marner’s Instagram post 😂 (Via @marner_93) A photo posted by TSN (@tsn_official) on
Which Marner then repaid in kind by telling reporters he’s been coaching Matthews to be less horrendous at Call of Duty:
When back at home, good guy Mitch Marner has been helping his buddy Matthews be less "terrible" (as Rielly would say) at Call of Duty pic.twitter.com/YB1lvcpsIo
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) January 17, 2017
Heartwarming stuff, kids. I’d be ecstatic if you two are the ones to finally bring home that Cup I’ve been dreaming about, but honestly I’ll almost be happy enough just to see you guys continue to be best buds forever.
Watch your backs, Deebo and KLow — these two young guns are coming for your #1 Toronto BFFL crown.