Maple Leafs Shouldn't Make Gavin McKenna's Rookie Season About Points
There’s going to be a temptation with Gavin McKenna to watch the scoreboard every night and decide whether the Maple Leafs made the right choice with the first-overall pick. That's just what happens when you draft a player with this much hype. If he goes five games without scoring, people will wonder what's wrong. If he scores three goals in a week, everybody will start talking about 100 points.
McKenna’s going to have some NHL issues. All rookies do.
But I'm not sure either approach is particularly helpful. McKenna is 18 years old and is stepping into the NHL after dominating at every level he's played. Now he's going to find out that NHL defencemen close space differently, goalies take away more net and mistakes that worked in junior or college suddenly end up going the other way. That's not a failure. That's the adjustment. And if the Maple Leafs really believe McKenna is going to be part of their next great core, they should be thinking about what he looks like three years from now, not whether he scores 45 or 60 points this season.
The interesting part for me is where they play him. If McKenna starts beside John Tavares and William Nylander, that's hardly being buried. He's going to be playing with two experienced NHL scorers who can help him learn what works at this level. Maybe he produces immediately. Maybe he doesn't. If he eventually moves up beside Auston Matthews, that should be because his game has earned it rather than because everybody decided before training camp that the two had to become instant superstars together.
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Why the Maple Leafs need to be careful with McKenna.
And that's where I think the Maple Leafs have to be careful. The temptation with a player like McKenna is to make him the answer to everything. Need more offence? Put McKenna with Matthews. Need a big playoff push? Give McKenna more minutes. Want Matthews to stay in Toronto? Point to McKenna as his future linemate. That's a lot to put on an 18-year-old before he's played an NHL game.
Maybe McKenna scores 60 points. Maybe he scores 45. Maybe he surprises everybody and scores even more. I'm less interested in the number than in whether he gets better from October to April. If the Maple Leafs can look back at the end of the season and say McKenna is stronger, smarter, more comfortable and more prepared for Year 2, then I think they've had a very good rookie season from him.
Sometimes the best rookie season isn't the one with the biggest numbers. It's the one that tells you something much bigger is coming.