Gavin McKenna has high expectations entering his rookie season with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The top overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft is regarded as the next great offensive talent in the NHL. McKenna has drawn comparisons to San Jose Sharks star Macklin Celebrini — whom McKenna worked out with in the offseason — and will joined a stacked offensive core featuring Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares.
As McKenna prepares for his rookie season, he’s well aware that Matthews is the face of the franchise. Matthews was also once in McKenna’s shoes as the top overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft. Fast forward a decade later and Matthews has accomplished just about every individual accolade, including winning the Hart Memorial Trophy and scoring 69 goals in a single season.
The 18-year-old McKenna recently spoke to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan and detailed what he’s learned from the veteran Matthews so far.
“We’ve had our convos and I’ve asked him for advice. He’s been an open book,” McKenna said. “I think we’ve just gone through similar things, so just trying to navigate through Toronto and how to deal with the media and stuff like that. He’s done a good job with it, so smart guy to go to.”
Auston Matthews Knows How to Deal With Maple Leafs Media
Matthews knows better than anybody what it means to deal with an intense media market in Toronto. The 28-year-old Matthews has dealt with tons of scrutiny as the captain and face of the Maple Leafs, including multiple years of coming up short in the playoffs.
This past season was the toughest for Matthews as the Maple Leafs unexpectedly missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Not only did the Leafs miss the postseason, Matthews went through the worst season of his pro career, setting career lows with 27 goals and 53 total points.
John Chayka, Maple Leafs Have Had Aggressive Offseason
Getting Matthews back on track and having McKenna live up to expectation as the No. 1 pick in the draft will go a long way towards determining whether or not the Leafs are able to return back into being a playoff contender. It’s worth noting that they’re only a year removed from pushing the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers to seven games.
They’ve also had one of the most active offseasons of any NHL team, signing two-time Stanley Cup champion goalie Sergei Bobrovsky while also acquiring former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh. Those are major acquisitions for a team that finished second-to-last in goals allowed this past season.
McKenna is a major fan of the Maple Leafs’ moves this offseason, taking notice of the impact that first-year general manager John Chayka has had just a few months into the job. The Maple Leafs also hired a new head coach in Jim Hiller. Hiller previously served as an assistant coach for the Leafs and led the Los Angeles Kings to the playoffs as their head coach.
“You see what Chayka is doing, you see the players he’s bringing in, I think we obviously want to go on a run this year,” McKenna said. “So it’s very fortunate for me to go to a team like that who’s hungry and in that winning environment. It’s pretty common that players who get drafted first overall go to a team who’s tanking and it’s not the case for me. I know I’ve gotten lucky.”
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