Toronto already has their game plan for Gavin McKenna and it involves making sure that he and Auston Matthews are together soon than later.
The Maple Leafs drafted Gavin McKenna first overall to a ton of hype and for good reason as he's one of the most dynamic, creative and exciting prospects to come into the league in some time. While there's questions about how he'll adjust to the NHL, there's no doubt he has the talent to be a huge success.
His playmaking ability will no doubt be a huge help to the Maple Leafs offence as a whole, and coupled with some powerful forwards like William Nylander, John Tavares and Matthew Knies - they'll be a force to be reckoned with.
However nobody is going to benefit from McKenna being in the lineup than Auston Matthews, who has been clamouring for a playmaker ever since Mitch Marner skipped town.
With McKenna giving him the potential to get back to his torrid goal-scoring pace, there's a lot to be excited for especially if Matthews is healthy and raring to go.
Toronto wants McKenna on Matthews' wing as quickly as possible
It also seems like the Maple Leafs aren't going to waste any time either trying to see how the two can co-exist. Elliotte Friedman confirmed that Toronto is looking to pair McKenna and Matthews as soon as possible to see how the chemistry is between the two stars, and if we're in for a magical season:
He'll make the team, and I think he's gonna play and I think they want him to play with Auston Matthews's quick as possible to give it a shot and see how it looks; wouldn't be surprised [if he ends up] power-play, he could be a first power-play guy.
For Maple Leafs fans who were worried that McKenna may be eased into the NHL, they are going to be relieved that they are giving their generational talent the spotlight to shine bright.
He's going to thrive off the pressure and every indication thus far has pointed to McKenna accepting there's going to be growing pains, and that any criticism or praise is warranted; if he's good, he wants the cheers. If he falters, he wants the fans to let him know.
Having that ability to accept failure and work to get better has always been McKenna's MO. He was a bit average defensively the first half of 2025-26 and said it was unacceptable for him to do so and then proceeded to be a much more aggressive and defensively savvy player.
McKenna is the playmaking partner that Matthews has been dreaming about
Regardless of your stance on Marner and how his tenure in Toronto ended, there's no denying that his place in the lineup was crucial to their success. He drove the offence, gave Matthews every opportunity to score in all situations, and was the anchor when Matthews was out.
McKenna has big shoes to fill but for someone who has had the highest expectations placed on him at a very young age, it's no sweat off his back. We aren't going to sit here and say McKenna will hit 85-90 points in his debut season, but if he manages 60-70 then it's a big win.
For context, Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini both scored 63 points in their rookie year with MacKinnon winning the Calder and Celebrini only losing out to Lane Hutson's incredible season and Dustin Wolf's sensational campaign.
We could see Matthews and McKenna featured heavily on the power-play with McKenna playing the face-off circle and manage the middle of the ice while Matthews takes his place in the high slot or hashmarks and let it rip once McKenna finds him.
Last season, Matthews scored 27 goals, with eight of those coming via Max Domi. He's out long-term, and isn't a top line player. Matthew Knies and William Nylander tied for seven apiece but they are goal-scorers, not playmakers.
Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have five, five, and four assists each respectively with Matthews then it's surprisingly Matias Maccelli with three, John Tavares with two, and a four-way tie with Bobby McMann, Easton Cowan, Troy Stecher, and Nick Robertson all with one.
Compare that to 2024-25 when Marner had 20 assists alone and Matthews only scored 33 goals; nearly 61% of his goals. In 2023-24 when he had 69 goals, Marner assisted on 33 of them which is nearly 48%. You can see how important Marner was to Matthews' goal-scoring success, and he needs that again in order to thrive.
It's why the partnership between him and McKenna is so interesting because Matthews has a year without a proper playmaker, got injured, and had a terrible overall season. He's going to be motivated to get back on track and with 'The Wizard of Whitehorse' at his side, they're going to make some magic happen in 2026-27.
Do you think it's too early to give Gavin McKenna the first line duties alongside Auston Matthews?
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