Gavin McKenna's Leafs arrival could force an established forward out before opening night

Gavin McKenna coming into the lineup could push out an established veteran especially if he finds chemistry quickly with Auston Matthews.

McKenna's arrival is certainly a highly anticipated one and it's going to be interesting toes how he's going to fit into the lineup as the Maple Leafs look to establish themselves as competitors once again in the Atlantic Division.

However you can't necessarily expect McKenna to immediately jump in and become the saviour of the Maple Leafs, but there is a genuine shot that he does end up pushing a veteran down the lineup or even potentially out of the lineup altogether.

McKenna's top-six path could push one established Leafs forward into a role he didn't sign up for

The potential for McKenna to push a veteran down seems a little less likely knowing who exactly is in the top-six, including Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares. While those three are unlikely to move, there is a case to drop Matthew Knies down.

While Knies is coming off a career year with 66 points in 79 games, his underlying numbers within the top-six show that besides him being with Matthews, he's not exactly tearing it up. If he were to slide to the third line and create a dominant checking line alongside Nick Paul, that gives the Maple Leafs a very tough group to play against that doesn't lose offensive potential.

Is that worth the $7.75M the team is currently paying Knies? Potentially, but it is also a steep drop-off from potential first-line elite power forward to third-line offence driver. Knies is being paid like a top star, so if he's not getting those types of opportunities - there's a serious disconnect between him and Toronto.

Toronto's 50-contract ceiling makes the McKenna ripple effect harder to hide in the minors

However there is one issue that the Maple Leafs must address not only now, but one that is going to affect them this season - their contract limit. Being at 50 of 50 means they can't add someone without trading or otherwise disposing of a contract.

If the team wanted to keep Knies in the fold alongside McKenna, Matthews, Tavares, Nylander, and Easton Cowan then you're looking at a bottom-six that has too many veterans but no avenue to get rid of them. Toronto can't simply send someone like Dakota Joshua or Teddy Blueger to the Marlies because they need to be waived, and are likely to get picked up for free as Toronto loses a player for nothing.

There are also names like Steven Lorentz who could end up being pushed out but again, we run into the same issue where he could be gone for nothing - and he's a small reason as to why Sergei Bobrovsky decided to come to Toronto.

Without a real chance to send anyone down, or get rid of contracts without trading or waiving a player, the Maple Leafs are a bit jammed up the middle with the arrival of McKenna, especially since he completely reconfigures their top-six rotation.

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