Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager Ryan Hardy said that top prospect Gavin McKenna could open the season alongside Auston Matthews.
The Maple Leafs selected McKenna with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. The team is not expected to bring him along slowly, instead opting to throw him into the fire right away as the team attempts to make a run at the Stanley Cup this coming season.
To that end, the team is considering playing him alongside Matthews on the club’s top line, if that’s what new Maple Leafs coach Jim Hiller desires.
Maple Leafs Open to Playing Gavin McKenna on Top Line
Speaking to TSN’s OverDrive, Hardy — the Maple Leafs assistant GM — said that the club is open to McKenna starting the season on the top line alongside Matthews in his rookie NHL season.
“Jim controls the lineup card, but for me, with the departure of Mitch (Marner) over to Vegas, that is a type of player who has done well with Auston in the past. Gavin’s line rush game and some of the interior players inside of possession — he’s got some unique gifts, and I think he would thrive with Auston,” Hardy said (via Maple Leafs Hot Stove).
“Auston, as the captain and leader of the team, I know, for a fact, is really excited about some of these guys coming in. He would take it as a bit of a badge of honour to bring a young guy under his wing and help the team. At the same time, I think it is very important with Gavin — and any of our young players — that the noise is really loud in Toronto.
“Sometimes, we sell these kids as if they are all the second coming. We have to be mindful that it is a teenager who will have his ups and downs in pro hockey. He will have stretches where, for the first time in his life, he will go a bunch of games without scoring a goal and (experience) different types of adversity.
“We should be flexible and allow for some of that to happen, but also, because of the gifts that he does possess and the drive and passion that he has, I don’t think it makes any sense to say that if Jim felt it made sense to put him there with Auston, that it’d be something any of us would shy away from.”
Maple Leafs Projected Top Line
Should McKenna start on the left wing on the team’s top line alongside Matthews at center, look for newly signed free agent Jack Roslovic potentially at right wing, as he is familiar with Matthews from their time with Team USA.
Then, on the second line, look for Matthew Knies to play left wing, with John Tavares at center and William Nylander as the right winger.
Overall, the Maple Leafs’ lineup is looking much deeper than it was last season, when the Maple Leafs missed the playoffs, and fans can’t wait to see McKenna get his NHL career started in September.
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