Maple Leafs Gavin McKenna Is Learning the Hard Way
Being a young player in the NHL is difficult enough. Being a young player on a struggling team can make it even harder. Every mistake seems to get noticed, every turnover becomes a talking point, and sometimes a young player doesn't get much room to breathe before the criticism starts.
Gavin McKenna got a reminder of that against Montreal on Saturday night. He had a couple of turnovers, and one of them was something head coach Jim Hiller clearly wasn't happy about. Hiller admitted he had spoken to McKenna about it, saying, "You just can't do it. You can't continue to do it."
That's a pretty direct message. But Hiller also made a point of saying McKenna is a great young player who has come a long way, has a good attitude, and is trying to learn. I think there's something important in that distinction.
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McKenna Has Two Problems This Season: Being a Rookie and Playing in Toronto.
Young players will make mistakes. That's not an excuse for poor decisions, and nobody is suggesting McKenna should get a free pass. But there's a difference between expecting accountability and expecting perfection. The latter is an awfully difficult standard for someone still finding his way in the NHL.
The Maple Leafs aren't exactly providing the easiest environment for young players to develop right now, either. Toronto is losing games it needs to win, the standings are becoming a concern, and patience can get pretty thin when the team keeps finding ways to lose. That's when perspective matters.
McKenna responded to his difficult moments by scoring Toronto’s second goal just 55 seconds after William Nylander put the Maple Leafs on the board. It didn't change the outcome, but it showed something about his willingness to keep playing after a mistake.
For fans, that's worth remembering. We want young players to be competitive, responsible, and dependable. But they don't arrive with all those qualities fully developed. They learn through experience, and sometimes that experience is uncomfortable.
If McKenna Can Learn From His Mistakes, Everyone Benefits.
Hiller is right to hold McKenna accountable. He's also right to recognize the progress the young forward has made. The trick is getting both things right.
Toronto needs McKenna to learn from his mistakes without becoming afraid to make plays. That's an important balance for any young offensive player. The Maple Leafs have to give him room to grow, even when the team's immediate results make that difficult.
Sometimes the best thing a young player can do after making a mistake is get right back into the game. McKenna did that against Montreal. Now the next step is learning how not to make the same mistake twice.