Opinion: Jim Hiller Made His First Big Mistake As Head Coach Of The Toronto Maple Leafs — And It Came At The Expense Of Gavin McKenna

It took eight games for Jim Hiller to make his first big mistake as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And it came at the expense of 18-year-old Gavin McKenna, who was mysteriously benched for the second-half of a game against the Buffalo Sabres for reasons that only Hiller seems to know.

The Leafs lost 5-4 in overtime to the Sabres. But the story of the night wasn't that they blew a two-goal lead in the third period. Or that they wasted a hat trick from Kirill Marchenko. Or even that John Tavares left the game with an unknown injury.

Rather, it was that McKenna, whose final shift came midway through the second period, did not step on the ice for the final 32 minutes and 54 seconds of the game. 

"That was my decision," said Hiller. "I probably should have got him out there early in the third. I didn't. So I'll talk to him about that."

According to Hiller, the Leafs got into penalty trouble in the second period, when they took two minor penalites, which caused McKenna to miss some shifts. By the time the third period rolled around, Hiller said that McKenna had been sitting out for so long that putting him back in cold was no longer an option.

Or something like that.

Honestly, Hiller's decision to bench the No. 1-overall pick didn't make any sense. His explanation made even less sense.

"We went for a stretch, I think we had those penalties, I wanted to get him out there," said Hiller. "He sat through the penalties, and then I didn't get him out there. You know, through that stretch and then in the last few minutes of the period, we're just trying to get out of the period, I guess you would say. And then now, as I've sat him for so long, and he sits in the intermission, so I probably should have got him out there early in the third. I didn't."

The way he made it sound, Hiller might have simply forgotten about McKenna. Which might be even worse.

This is a decision that could haunt Hiller, who is no stranger to confusing decisions. During his time as the Los Angeles Kings coach, he famously made an ill-timed and controversial coach's challenge during Game 3 of a playoff game against the Edmonton Oilers, which fans believe was the turning point for losing the first-round series.

It's too early to say. But depending on how the rest of the season goes — or maybe even the rest of the month — this could also be his downfall. 

Honestly, Hiller should have known better. McKenna is not just any player. He's a No. 1 pick and a future star. It's one thing to bench him. But at the very least, you need to explain the decision. There has to be a reason.

There, at least, has to be a rationale.

Heading into the game, McKenna was on a four-game point streak, with two goals and five points. The previous game, McKenna logged a career-high 17:08 in a loss to the Utah Mammoth, where McKenna scored a goal.

Against the Sabres, he started out on a line with Colton Sissons and Easton Cowan. But even with Tavares out in the third period with an injury and the Leafs needing offense, McKenna could not get back onto the ice.

Worse, it appears that Hiller didn't even communicate the decision to sit him. Instead, he let McKenna sit on the bench waiting and wondering when his next shift was going to come. Imagine what that must have felt like for McKenna. 

“Yeah, yeah. I'll talk to him for sure," said Hiller. "Yeah, but I haven't talked to him yet.”

It would have been one thing if McKenna had given up the puck on a goal or failed to backcheck and the coach was trying to send him a message early on in his career. But that wasn't the case on Thursday night.

McKenna was on the ice when Buffalo's Jack Quinn scored his second goal of the game. But he wasn't to blame.

Of course, based on Hiller's actions, it now seems like McKenna was to blame. 

"Yeah, you're always worried," Hiller said of what the benching could do to McKenna's psyche. "You guys have talked to him. I've said this before. I've talked to Gavin. Very, very mature. Very, you know, let stuff roll off, and doesn't take anything too, too personally. That's, that's what I've got from him. He's usually ready to go.

"There's been other times I haven't played him as much and put him in there and double-shifted him and those kinds of things, and he's responded. So, yeah, I'll talk to him, but I don't have a big concern about that."

Talk to him? Maybe he better apologize to him.

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