Jack Hughes believes that the Toronto Maple Leafs' first overall pick, Gavin McKenna, is better set up for success in his rookie season than many recent first overall picks.
At the NHL's Player Media Tour in Las Vegas, New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes was asked about the Toronto Maple Leafs' first overall pick, Gavin McKenna.
Hughes was a first overall pick by the Devils in 2019, going through the process of that honor and understanding what comes with it.
He sees McKenna as being in quite an ideal situation when it comes to entering the NHL and going into a rookie season as the top pick from the previous draft.
"I think of all the first overall picks in that last bunch of years, he might be a guy that (a) might have the spotlight on him the most, but (b) might be in the best spot because they should have a good team," Hughes said to reporters, including TheHockeyNews.com's Michael Traikos.
"The Leafs probably shouldn't have had the first-overall pick, and on top of that, he has Mats (Auston Matthews) and John Tavares, who were both first-overall picks before."
In terms of advice, Hughes believes that McKenna has all the resources not only on the ice but off the ice. Any adversity, questions or struggles that McKenna may encounter throughout this coming season, or in years to come, he has all the help he needs in that dressing room.
"He should have more than enough experience and guys to lean on and who he can talk to about the situations that he's going through," Hughes said. "There's no better person in the league for him to listen to than Auston Matthews, because Mats been through all that stuff 10 years ago, so it should be a great setup for him."
Hughes knows the type of leader Matthews can be on a team. Those two shared the international stage for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics, with Matthews captaining his nation in both tournaments.
See more of The Hockey News on Google — Save us as Preferred Source
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
