Gavin McKenna

Maple Leafs vs Avalanche recap: Nylander ties a career high with five points, Matthews adds four and Bobrovsky makes 30 saves in a 6-3 win.

Gavin McKenna third line opinion: why the move with Nick Paul and Colton Sissons suits the rookie, and why Hiller should keep it through game 10.

Gavin McKenna's first NHL goal came in game four. Why it should not end the second-line debate, and what the road trip needs to show.

Maple Leafs vs Predators recap: Matthews' four-point night and OT winner cap a 3-0 comeback, McKenna scores his first goal, and what still needs fixing.

Jim Hiller is sticking with the Maple Leafs second line of McKenna, Tavares and Nylander 'for now.' Here is why that patience needs a firm deadline.

The Maple Leafs scoring problem isn't bad luck. Toronto has scored two goals in all three games on 27 shots a night, and Jim Hiller's lines need to change.

The McKenna-Tavares-Nylander line was out-attempted 19-3 by the Islanders. Why Hiller should swap Gavin McKenna and Easton Cowan if it happens again.

Gavin McKenna NHL debut: minus-2 and one shot in 15:19 of a 3-2 loss to Montreal. What it tells us, what it doesn't, and how his nine-game window plays out.

A Maple Leafs season preview built on six real questions: Matthews health, Bobrovsky at 38, the defence, the third line, McKenna and Hiller system.

Gavin McKenna NHL debut is Tuesday against Montreal. Jim Hiller owns last change at home. Here is how he should deploy the No. 1 pick in game one.

The Gavin McKenna nine-game window opens Tuesday. If he plays all nine, Oct. 19 vs San Jose becomes game 10 — and the contract decision Toronto can't undo.

Maple Leafs Arizona bonding trip: Matthews hosted in Scottsdale, Chayka broke the Muskoka routine, and Toronto flew home three days before hosting Montreal.

Nine Maple Leafs debuts are possible on opening night against Montreal. What John Chayka's roster overhaul actually targeted, and where it could go wrong.

Jack Roslovic won the Maple Leafs top-line right wing with a three-point finale. Why the alternatives were weaker, and what settling it unlocks.

Maple Leafs preseason finale: a 6-1 and 4-2 split-squad sweep of Ottawa. Matthews, Tavares and Roslovic each had three points, and nobody got hurt.

Maple Leafs opening night arrives Sept. 29 against Montreal. A scouting report on Caufield's form, the Kreider addition, and where Toronto can actually win.

The Maple Leafs top six puts Roslovic with Matthews and McKenna with Tavares. It is backwards: the rookie belongs on the first line, and here is the case why.

The Maple Leafs power play ranked 25th last season. Daniel Alfredsson's fix starts with faceoffs, edge battles and quicker puck retrievals, not a new formation.

The Brady Tkachuk Panthers debut brought two goals, an assist and a fight. Florida got better, Ottawa got worse, Toronto's Atlantic path narrowed.

Maple Leafs roster decisions come down to one split-squad night in Ottawa and Toronto. Cowan, Blankenburg, the seventh defenceman and McKenna's nine games.

Gavin McKenna power play role is the second unit, not the first. Hiller's September logic is sound. His November logic needs to be different.

Gavin McKenna debut: three shots, no points, 19 minutes against Montreal's best pair. Toronto lost 4-1, and the rookie was not the reason.

The Gavin McKenna preseason debut is Saturday at Scotiabank Arena, on Tavares' wing. Three things worth watching, and why the scoresheet is not one of them.

Maple Leafs training camp lines, day one: Roslovic with Matthews and Knies, McKenna with Tavares and Nylander, and a surprise on the second defence pair.

Gavin McKenna has to earn his spot in the Leafs lineup, Jim Hiller says. Why a sheltered start is right for an 18-year-old facing 84 games.

The Maple Leafs training camp roster is 73 players: 41 forwards, 25 defencemen, seven goaltenders. Jim Hiller has 13 days and four games to sort all of it.

Maple Leafs prospect challenge wrap: Koblar's three assists led a 6-4 win over Winnipeg, and the McKenna-less weekend in Gatineau still produced answers.

The Gavin McKenna prospect challenge debut is off. Toronto reversed course a day after naming the No. 1 pick to its Gatineau roster.

The Gavin McKenna Maple Leafs debut lands Saturday at 6 p.m. ET against Ottawa's rookies in Gatineau. Toronto released its Prospect Challenge roster Thursday.

Gavin McKenna will live with John Tavares this season. He is the third Leafs prospect the Tavares family has hosted, and the cheapest edge Toronto has.

The NHL Prospect Challenge brings Leafs prospects to Gatineau on Sept. 12-13 against Ottawa and Winnipeg — with Gavin McKenna's status still up in the air.

Maple Leafs training camp 2026 is capped at 13 days and four preseason games by the new CBA. Jim Hiller has to install everything on almost no runway.

Gavin McKenna's linemates are the decision Jim Hiller has to make at camp. Why Toronto should start its No. 1 pick with Tavares and give him PP1 anyway.

Maple Leafs 2026-27 predictions have Toronto fourth in the Atlantic. Why that is too generous for a 78-point team with an unchanged defence corps.

The Maple Leafs prospect pool ranks 15th, up nine spots. Gavin McKenna explains most of the jump — and what the rest of the system still lacks.

Jack Roslovic is the Maple Leafs’ riskiest bet of the summer: $4M for a streaky 29-year-old in a job Gavin McKenna needs to have.

Which Maple Leafs training camp roster spots are actually open? Two top-six wings, the 3C job, a third pair — and a cap crunch up front.

The Gavin McKenna Calder Trophy chase starts in October. He put the playoffs first — and his Penn State numbers say what kind of rookie season to expect.

Maple Leafs roster age is the quiet story of Chayka's first summer: why Toronto bridged with veterans, and where an 84-game schedule breaks the plan.

John Tavares is the Maple Leafs' best value contract at $4.39M. His 2026-27 role under Jim Hiller, and how the Gavin McKenna handoff lines up.

World Cup of Hockey 2028 runs in Calgary, Edmonton and Prague. Why February 2028 is the worst month for the Maple Leafs' contract structure.

Auston Matthews skating in drills at Arizona State is the first footage since March knee surgery. What it proves, and what it does not.

The Maple Leafs 2026-27 projection spans redemption story to tire fire. The variance is really Auston Matthews knee and Sergei Bobrovsky age.

The Maple Leafs prospect pool now ranks 12th in the NHL after one offseason. The problem: it has almost no natural finishers, and Toronto will need one by 2029.

The Gavin McKenna ranking landed at No. 18 on The Athletic's under-23 list of 156 players. Why that number is not the demotion it looks like.

The Gavin McKenna nine games rule decides the Leafs' fall. A tenth appearance burns the entry-level slide forever. The rule, the money, and what Toronto does.

The Kirill Marchenko trade market has gone cold, with Columbus fielding no calls since early summer. Why the Maple Leafs should wait until the deadline.

The Cutter Gauthier contract standoff — a rejected $52 million offer — resets the NHL's second-contract market and raises the price of Toronto's next deals.

Matthew Knies 30 goals is a seven-goal step, not a leap. Why it is the cleanest test of whether John Chayka built the Maple Leafs roster correctly.

The Darren Raddysh power play case rests on volume: 115 slap shots and 212 shots on goal last season. Why that, not his 22 goals, is Toronto's real upgrade.

Auston Matthews 40 goals in 2026-27? His down-year rate already projects to 37 over 84 games. Health, not scoring touch, is the real question.

Maple Leafs key dates 2026-27: prospect games in Gatineau on September 12, preseason on September 19, opening night versus Montreal on September 29.

Maple Leafs prospect rankings are out. Behind Gavin McKenna and Easton Cowan sit the names that decide whether Toronto really has a pipeline.

The Gavin McKenna dirt bike clip isn't a scandal, but it is Toronto's first off-ice risk call on a No. 1 pick. What the NHL contract actually says.

Patrick O'Sullivan is the Maple Leafs' new director of NHL development. Why Chayka promoted a Treliving-era holdover, and what the job actually involves.

Gavin McKenna put in roughly 17 hours of ice time a week with Macklin Celebrini this summer. Why the Maple Leafs should care more than fans realize.

Easton Cowan has a Memorial Cup and a Calder Cup in back-to-back seasons. What the Maple Leafs winger has to do in 2026-27 to complete the set.

Jim Hiller is the Maple Leafs coach with the shortest honeymoon in hockey: nine additions, a three-goalie crease and Gavin McKenna, all in year one.

NHL preseason games drop to four in 2026-27 with veterans limited to two. Why the compressed camp hurts the Maple Leafs more than any team in the division.

The Maple Leafs Stanley Cup odds for 2026-27 sit at +6000, tied 19th league-wide. We think the Cup line is right and the playoff line is soft. Here is why.

Gavin McKenna's No. 92 is real — the phone call to Jeff O'Neill was invented. A month-long viral fabrication says a lot about Toronto's rumour mill.

The NHL neck guard mandate starts in 2026-27 for players with no NHL experience, so Gavin McKenna wears one from his first shift. Leafs veterans are exempt.

Canada fell 7-2 to the U.S. in Windsor, but the Tyler Hopkins world juniors push survived. His Guelph season now decides the Edmonton roster question.

The Gavin McKenna rookie tournament appearance is up in the air, delaying his Leafs debut. Why holding the No. 1 pick out of Gatineau is the right call.

The World Junior Summer Showcase closes today in Windsor with Canada vs. the U.S. Tyler Hopkins is the Leafs' only entrant. What his audition actually decided.

Gavin McKenna's rookie season goals are a Calder Trophy and a playoff run. The Leafs' No. 1 pick spoke in Chicago about Matthews, Celebrini and pressure.

Gavin McKenna is not on Canada's World Junior Summer Showcase roster in Windsor. Why the omission is a signal about his Maple Leafs season, not a snub.

Gavin McKenna's entry-level contract pays a $1.075M cap hit with $3.5M in annual bonuses. Here is why it powers Chayka's retool — and how it can backfire.

The Matthews-Nylander line dominated when Toronto used it. With Gavin McKenna available for Tavares, Jim Hiller has no good reason left to keep them apart.

Maple Leafs prospect Tyler Hopkins earns a Canada Summer Showcase invite after 50 points in 56 games. What his OHL trade and two-way game mean for Toronto.

The Maple Leafs preseason schedule is set — split-squads vs. Montreal (Sept. 19) and Ottawa (Sept. 23), tickets on sale July 23. Here's what matters.

Gavin McKenna leads Canada at the World Junior Summer Showcase in Windsor. What the week means for the Maple Leafs' top pick and his path to the lineup.

At 35, John Tavares is the Maple Leafs' bargain second-line centre. His $4.389-million cap hit and flexibility quietly insulate Toronto for 2026-27.

The next look at the Maple Leafs prospects comes in September: a rookie tournament in Ottawa and games versus Montreal. The fall runway for McKenna and Cowan.

Maple Leafs training camp 2026 features real position battles: McKenna's push, Cowan's audition, a centre logjam and a cap crunch that squeezes someone out.

The Maple Leafs prospects pool headlines The Athletic's top 100 with Gavin McKenna ranked No. 1 overall and Easton Cowan at No. 70.

The Maple Leafs second-line centre market vanished as Trocheck, Bourque and Kyrou were traded elsewhere, leaving Tavares and the kids to answer at 2C.

The Maple Leafs 2026-27 schedule drops this week: opening night July 15, the full 84-game slate July 16 at 1 p.m. ET. Here's what to watch.

The Maple Leafs plan to put Gavin McKenna on the power play's first unit right away — Toronto's fix for a 15th-ranked group under Daniel Alfredsson.

Gavin McKenna was the headline, but the real Maple Leafs development camp standouts are the depth behind him: Nansi's leap, Bilecki's rise, Koblar's smarts.

The Maple Leafs 2026-27 schedule arrives July 15-16. The preseason is set: four split-squad games over two days versus Montreal and Ottawa.

The Gavin McKenna entry-level contract is official — a three-year, bonus-laden deal tying the No. 1 pick to Toronto as he surrenders No. 72 to Bobrovsky.

The Maple Leafs 2026-27 roster is taking shape: deeper forwards, a rebuilt Bobrovsky crease, a cap crunch and one unfilled top-pairing defence hole for Chayka.

Opinion: Gavin McKenna belongs on the Maple Leafs roster now — alongside Matthews. The case for keeping the No. 1 pick, the argument for patience, and why patience loses.

The No. 1 pick dominated Maple Leafs development camp this week. Inside what Gavin McKenna showed, why it matters, and the Auston Matthews line question already being asked.

Inside the Maple Leafs 2026 draft class: 10 picks led by Gavin McKenna, a third round that looked like a second, and Chayka's clear puck-moving blueprint.

The Maple Leafs selected Gavin McKenna No. 1 overall in the 2026 NHL Draft. Here's who Toronto got, what comes next, and why the pick matters.

Maple Leafs draft day has arrived: Toronto picks No. 1 overall tonight in Buffalo and is set to take Gavin McKenna, its first top pick since Matthews in 2016.

Maple Leafs draft night arrives June 26 in Buffalo with the No. 1 pick and Gavin McKenna the likely choice — plus the trades Chayka could spring.

Gavin McKenna and the Maple Leafs become official June 26 in Buffalo as Toronto makes the No. 1 pick. The player, the numbers and the fit.

The McKenna pick looks like a rebuild, but Chayka kept Matthews, Knies and Nylander and spent cap space. This is a Maple Leafs retool, not a teardown.

The Maple Leafs 2026 draft picks start with McKenna at No. 1, then thin out — a second at 60th, two thirds, and trade-acquired leftovers. The full board.

A full Gavin McKenna scouting report ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft — his elite playmaking, the physicality questions, the Marner comp, and how the No. 1 pick fits the Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs draft strategy under Chayka: McKenna at No. 1, best player available after, and the draft floor as a venue for a Rielly or centre deal.

The 2026 NHL Draft for the Maple Leafs runs June 26-27 in Buffalo. Toronto picks No. 1 overall, Gavin McKenna is the favourite, and the Leafs hold seven picks.

Chayka wants a development-first Maple Leafs head coach, not another systems binder. His Pavelski interest and draft-day secrecy tell the whole story.

Maple Leafs draft picks: Toronto keeps No. 1 overall but owes first-rounders to Philadelphia and Boston through 2028. How the pick protections cascade.

A report from the NHL Combine says the Maple Leafs told Gavin McKenna he's their first overall pick. Why the choice over Ivar Stenberg looks settled before June 26.

Gavin McKenna and the Maple Leafs edged closer as GM John Chayka flew to Whitehorse to meet the projected No. 1 pick before the 2026 draft.

Should the Maple Leafs trade the No. 1 pick? No. Here's why Toronto should keep it, draft Gavin McKenna in Buffalo, and ignore the trade noise.

The Leafs first overall pick is a real choice between Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg ahead of Toronto's No. 1 selection in Buffalo on June 26.

Toronto wins the 2026 Leafs draft lottery from 8.5% odds, landing the No. 1 overall pick for the third time ever. Gavin McKenna is the heavy favourite.