Maple Leafs Morning Skate Report: Why Gavin McKenna Was Promoited to Top Line With Auston Matthews Against Kraken And More

SEATTLE — For the first time in his young NHL career, Gavin McKenna will open a game on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top line alongside Auston Matthews when the club visits the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday.

The promotion arrived out of necessity rather than a carefully orchestrated plan. The club announced that Kirill Marchenko is now week-to-week with a lower-body injury suffered Monday against the Calgary Flames, when he fell awkwardly after a hit from Yegor Sharangovich and did not return. Combined with the ongoing absence of John Tavares (week-to-week with a lower-body injury), the Leafs are down two top-six forwards on the road without the last change. Coach Jim Hiller responded by sliding McKenna up with Matthews and Jack Roslovic, while Easton Cowan shifted to skate with William Nylander and Nick Paul.

So why did they move Cowan down instead of just slotting McKenna onto the second line with Paul and Nylander?

“That’s something we’ve talked about a lot at different times,” Hiller said. “That line had played so well with Easton, but with (Marchenko) out, give Gavin a chance there, and move Easton with Willy and Paul.”

The real answer lies in Cowan being rough on his own game for a couple of mistakes he made in Toronto’s loss to Calgary.

McKenna has already logged brief stretches with Matthews as mid-game promotions. In those limited samples, roughly 16 minutes of shared 5-on-5 ice time across six games, per NaturalStatTrick.com data, the Leafs have controlled 51.4 percent of shot attempts and have yet to allow a goal. The numbers are small, but they have not been disastrous, and they have given Hiller enough of a look to trust the rookie with a full game in that spot.

“I hope he just feels comfortable playing with Auston,” Hiller said. “Sometimes there’s the first few times it’s, ‘Hey, you’re playing with Auston, and what do I got to do? I got to get him the puck.’ I think probably by now he’s played enough with him and enough in the league that he just has to go out and play his game.”

McKenna, who is nearing the one-month mark of his NHL career, struck a similar tone. He acknowledged that the lineup shuffle was somewhat expected given the injuries, and he viewed the opportunity in a positive manner.

“When you see that, I think a little bit of a boost of confidence,” McKenna said. “When you’re playing with two guys like that, you got to make sure you’re working. I think (I) want to make the most out of this opportunity.”

He has already absorbed some of the lessons from those earlier shifts with Matthews. The biggest one, he said, is simple: get the captain the puck when he is open, because Matthews is dangerous from all areas of the ice. He has also been struck by Matthews’ playmaking ability, something that was less obvious from afar.

“I think something I didn’t really know is how good he was at making those plays coming into the league,” McKenna said. “He’s made tons of nice plays where not a lot of guys can make that play. So when he’s got the puck on his stick, you got to be ready as well.”

Hiller believes the 18-year-old is a different player than the one who debuted on opening night. The league has ramped up, and McKenna has had to ramp up with it. He has developed a healthy respect for the speed and physicality, learned what he can and cannot get away with offensively, and begun to grasp the details required without the puck, the area Hiller identified as the biggest challenge for every young player.

McKenna has noticed those defensive details himself. Turnovers are punished immediately. Positioning matters more than it did at lower levels.

“If you’re in the right spots, it’s a lot harder to go against,” he said. “For me, I think it’s been trying to get in those spots and create turnovers.”

The broader forward group will need similar adaptability. Down two top-six pieces on the road, Hiller pointed to Teddy Blueger’s line as a group that has already begun to absorb heavier minutes and match up against opposing top units over the past 10 days.

Roslovic, who rounds out the top line, expects he'll see a lot of time as a setup man with McKenna on the other wing.

"A little bit more net front time for me tonight," he said with a smile. "Let them go to work. 

“I think we’ve got such great minutes from our, you want to call them our fourth line, from Teddy Blueger’s line,” Hiller said. “I’ve had him out there against the other team’s top lines. So despite everybody having to step up in this absence, I think you’re going to see that line, as long as they continue to play like this, take on a bigger and bigger role, a role maybe that we didn’t expect two weeks ago.”

Nick Paul has already embodied that flexibility. He began the season on the wing, has spent significant time as a top-six centre, has killed penalties, and was on the power play at Wednesday’s skate. Hiller called him versatile and an important presence for the team’s spirit.

“He’s on the power play today, so now we got penalty-killer, a top-six centerman, you’ve got a power play guy, and just an awesome guy for the team,” Hiller said. “He’s really been a great addition. We’ve had a number of them, but he touches a lot of different areas of the game.”

Paul himself has made a career of filling whatever role is available. He noted that the Leafs have multiple players capable of moving up the lineup without a steep drop-off, and that the group has built chemistry that allows for those shifts.

“I feel like I’ve kind of made a career doing that of just being able to play wherever and play with whoever and be put wherever,” Paul said. “As a team, when you have a team that can do that and do it well, I mean, to sign up a good team of one guy goes down, someone else picks them up.”

Other injury updates offered limited optimism. Dakota Joshua has completed a conditioning stint and is otherwise ready, but his equipment has not yet arrived because of airline delays. Chris Tanev did not wear a regular sweater at the skate, which Hiller described as the expected step in his recovery protocol. He will not play against Seattle, and his status for Friday’s game in Vancouver remains wait-and-see.

Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to start against the Kraken, who Hiller anticipates will play a hard, checking game similar to the one the Leafs just faced in Calgary. After turnovers in the neutral zone frustrated the Leafs in that loss, Hiller wants a simpler approach: get the puck deep and play in Seattle’s zone.

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