Mitch Marner was going on the other day about how Auston Matthews and Michael Bunting bicker with each other like an old couple.
They needle each other, they know how to push each other鈥檚 buttons. They do it with a smile on their face, knowing the other isn鈥檛 taking it too seriously, and that good-natured payback is in the offing.
鈥淚 heard the two just bicker and back and forth,鈥 said Marner. 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of like a divorced couple, to be honest, with those two.鈥
Bunting corrected Marner.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we fight like a divorced couple, maybe an old married couple,鈥 said Bunting. 鈥淲e have a great relationship off the ice. We joke around a lot. We鈥檙e always cheer for one another and we hang out a lot.鈥
That chemistry, that friendship that they鈥檝e built off the ice has turned into something incredible on the ice. Matthews leads all NHLers in scoring, on track for his first 50-goal season 鈥 maybe 60 鈥 and his second Rocket Richard Trophy. Bunting leads all NHL rookies in goals, and is a candidate for the Calder.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not everything, but it鈥檚 not nothing either,鈥 coach Sheldon Keefe said of the friendship. 鈥淭hat type of banter and that type of chemistry is important. It make you excited to play with a guy. When things are good, things are usually really good because you鈥檙e feeding off that energy on and off the ice.
鈥淏ut it also allows you to have difficult conversation. You challenge each other at the same time. Not unlike any other relationship where the closer you get the more comfortable and confident you are to have conversations or talk about different things.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great the fact that that鈥檚 developed in such a short period of time, this first season of them being together. It speaks to Bunting鈥檚 personality. He just puts himself out there, and he鈥檚 an engaging guy.鈥
It was Matthews who reached out to Bunting to ignite the friendship.
鈥淎uston has grown a lot in his off-ice demeanour,鈥 said defenceman Morgan Rielly. 鈥淗e takes that (leadership) role very seriously. When a guy comes into a new team and there鈥檚 an opportunity that he might play on his line, he (Matthews) took a lot of time at training camp to spend time with Michael. And it just I think they had a bond right away. I give Auston some credit there. He took it upon himself to make that happen, and certainly his work has paid off.鈥
Matthews is from Arizona. Bunting played in Arizona. So they had a few things in common.
鈥淗e played with some of my buddies in the minors, so we hit it off pretty quick,鈥 Matthews said of Bunting. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a lot of fun hanging out with him, a lot of fun playing with him. He鈥檚 a really great player and does what he does extremely well. So it鈥檚 been a lot of fun just getting to know him. We鈥檝e had a lot of fun off the ice, on the ice and just trying to compete out there and obviously to do the right things.鈥
Bunting remembers it the same way.
鈥淔rom Day 1, once we got to training camp, we talked about mutual friends and then built the connection and built chemistry on the ice, thankfully and with Mitch as well,鈥 said Bunting.
鈥淪ome of the stuff he (Matthews) does, I giggle to myself mid-game because it鈥檚 pretty remarkable. He鈥檚 such an exceptional player. He鈥檚 a fun player to play with. You never know what he鈥檚 going to do. He鈥檚 one of the best, or the best in the league.鈥
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