The Toronto Maple Leafs are entering the season with heightened expectations.
Despite the fact that the Maple Leafs are coming off of their first non-playoff season in a decade, the Maple Leafs have reloaded under new general manager John Chayka. Not only did they make a major splash before free agency began by acquiring former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh, they signed two-time Stanley Cup champion goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to a three-year deal.
While the moves for established veterans should help the Leafs return back to playoff contention, it’s their top draft pick, Gavin McKenna, that will hopefully give them a new franchise star alongside captain Auston Matthews. McKenna is a highly regarded offensive talent, producing 129 points and 88 assists during the 2024-25 season with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.
Teddy Blueger, one of the Maple Leafs’ veteran additions in free agency spoke highly of his new teammate McKenna. The 31-year-old Blueger didn’t hide his expectations for his 18-year-old counterpart.
“Anytime you get a No. 1 overall pick, there’s a lot of hype, a lot of excitement and a lot of attention,” Blueger said. “Most of the time, those guys deliver. I think obviously the attention that he’s getting, just the media attention from what I’ve heard from guys in Toronto, it’ll be a little bit different. That’ll be interesting to see firsthand.”
Gavin McKenna Has Drawn Comparisons to Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini
There are obviously high expectations for McKenna as the top overall pick, but he’ll be aided by the fact that he plays with a talented offensive supporting cast in Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares.
During his lone season with the Penn State Nittany Lions, McKenna produced 51 points (15 goals, 36 assists), ranking fifth in the NCAA in total points.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound forward has drawn comparisons to Macklin Celebrini, the 20-year-old San Jose Sharks forward who just became the highest-paid player in the NHL. Celebrini is coming off of a breakthrough season in which he produced 45 goals and 70 assists for 115 total points, the fourth-highest mark in the NHL. McKenna actually worked out with Celebrini over the summer.
Gavin McKenna Works out With Macklin Celebrini Over the Summer
“I was training with Mac and doing what he was doing, and he was a pretty intense guy when it comes to his off-ice and on-ice stuff,” McKenna said while speaking to David Alter of The Hockey News. “So, to kind of be in that environment and just get in a routine, it felt good. I had a lot of fun, and I feel like I got better.”
McKenna spoke of the training sessions which saw him work for “17 hours” a week with Celebrini.
“My trainers probably won’t like to hear this, but there was a week where we were on the ice for like 17 hours…Mac is crazy,” said McKenna. “But every skate out there, you’re getting better and it’s a competitive group, so I had a lot of fun with it.”
We’ll see if McKenna can live up to the billing, but it’s clear that his veteran teammates have high expectations for him based upon his skill set and his previous production.
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