'In Toronto Media, You Hear About It': Maple Leafs’ Gavin McKenna Eyes First NHL Point

Gavin McKenna has spent the opening week of his Toronto Maple Leafs and NHL career learning that the middle of the ice does not open the way it did in the WHL or at Penn State, and that a city this loud will notice when the points do not come.

The 18-year-old, selected first overall in June, is still searching for his first NHL point heading into Tuesday’s game against the Nashville Predators at Scotiabank Arena. Through three games he has no goals, no assists, three shots and a minus-3, averaging 14:32 a night while skating with John Tavares and William Nylander. Toronto is 1-2-0. The Predators, and Juuse Saros, are next.

Head coach Jim Hiller told him Monday that Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Ottawa was his best game yet. McKenna agreed.

“I started creating a little bit more and just feeling more comfortable,” McKenna said. “It’s just been a process. Every game, just trying to nitpick things and learn from each play and each shift. Obviously, there’s still things to be learned, and it’s going to start to come. But yeah, I think it’s a good step.”

The step has been small on the scoresheet. He had one shot and was minus-2 in 15:19 in the season-opening 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Sept. 29, one shot and an even rating in 15:32 in a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders the next night, and one shot and a minus-1 in 12:46 against the Ottawa Senators. The underlying numbers have been harsher than the box score. The line has been outscored and pinned in its own end for long stretches, even with a heavy share of offensive-zone starts.

Asked what has been hardest about the jump, McKenna talked specifics.

“I’d say probably just trying to get to the middle of the ice,” he said. “It’s a tough league and there’s not a whole lot of time and space. So when you get those chances to find the middle of the ice, they don’t come very often. So you got to make sure you’re there and you’re ready when you get that chance.

“And just being simple. In juniors, in college, you can kind of get away with trying to make moves at the blue line and stuff like that and not getting the puck deep. Here, you only get so many chances a game. So if you don’t make that play, then the puck’s probably back in your own end, and you’re playing in the D zone, and then you’re off the ice. So you got to be smart with your decisions.”

He has been here before, at least in the sense of a quiet start. McKenna said he opened his lone season at Penn State without points and had to figure it out against bigger players. The lesson he is trying to carry north is about timing more than muscle.

“College is a lot different style of hockey than the NHL. For me, in a similar way though, it was trying to get to the middle more, trying to get inside, not be on the perimeter,” he said. “It’s not necessarily you got a stick on the middle, but it’s all about timing. I think that can kind of help me coming into the NHL.”

While he has the poise to understand it, he acknowledged it has to get better.

“It’s obviously not where you want to be, but at the end of the day, I’ve been on many streaks where I’ve put up no points,” McKenna said. “Had a tough start to college last year and started to figure things out there. So I think just honestly learning from last year and learning from these first few games is going to be key. And just sticking with it, being confident. I think I know it’s going to come.”

Some of that confidence is just talking it out. After games he and Tavares go home and walk through shifts. McKenna said the captain has been direct about what both of them can do better, and that the conversations land because of who is delivering them.

“When he points things out that we can both work on, I think it helps me a lot. And when he says something, you kind of focus on it, and you realize how smart of a player he is,” McKenna said. “He’s obviously been through it. So he’s someone you want to listen to, and yeah, I trust him a lot.”

The other classroom has been video. McKenna said he and the coaches have been sitting down one-on-one, separate from the team sessions, a habit he picked up in the Dub. Hiller described those sessions as a give-and-take, and said assistant Daniel Alfredsson has been doing some of that work with him.

“We know what we see, and we’ve looked at it over and over and over again,” Hiller said. “I think sometimes it’s important to get the player’s perspective and see what they see, and hopefully it lines up with what you see. And if it doesn’t, then it starts a really good conversation.”

The noise around the goose egg has been harder to edit out. Asked for his welcome-to-the-NHL moment, McKenna smiled.

“I think just how hard it is. You come in, you believe in yourself, and I still believe in myself,” he said. “Especially in the Toronto media, with putting up zero points in three games, I think you hear about it. So maybe that’s my welcome to the NHL.”

Hiller did not rush to protect him from the line.

“That’s you guys, right? It’s nothing that I’ve said. Just what you guys have said,” the coach said, jokingly. 

He added that the club talks about outside noise the way it has and that the instruction is to stay in the present, even if phones make that difficult. 

“What you need to do is just really stay focused in the moment. Stay on the present.”

McKenna had his family in town for the first week, but they have since returned home to Whitehorse, Yukon.

“It was awesome. They were pumped, and especially having them around, I think brings the morale up for me,” he said. “Playing in front of them and getting a chat with them after games and just hang out. Won’t see them for a little bit, so it was fun spending time with them.”

Tuesday is the last home game before a three-game road trip, which Hiller treated as useful rather than defining. Getting on the scoresheet before hitting the road would certainly help the rookie find his groove.

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