The Toronto Maple Leafs are only three games into the season, but rookie Gavin McKenna is already under the microscope.
Toronto’s 1-2-0 start has plenty of moving parts behind it, yet McKenna has become a talking point for a different reason. The 18-year-old still hasn’t recorded a point and, by several underlying measures, the early results have been rough.
That part comes with the territory for a rookie. What has drawn more attention is his attendance record at optional skates.
McKenna has missed multiple optional practices, including a skills session that featured Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Kirill Marchenko, John Tavares and Easton Cowan. He previously said one absence was tied to trying to keep his body fresh during a back-to-back.
Even so, the pattern has become a story in Toronto. McKenna did return for Tuesday’s optional practice, but the scrutiny around his preparation isn’t going away anytime soon.
Elsewhere, the Edmonton Oilers are reportedly working on the market for a young center from the Eastern Conference. Darren Dreger said on The Nielson Show that Edmonton has been in conversations for several weeks and was viewed as a front-runner in the talks. He described the player as a young center with upside who is still trying to build his NHL value.
The name that has surfaced as a fit is Boston Bruins forward Matt Poitras. A 2022 second-round pick, Poitras has 27 points in 70 NHL games and recently returned from injury.
The Oilers, though, are not believed to be in a hurry to force a move, especially with injured players such as Jason Dickinson nearing returns. No deal involving Poitras has been confirmed.
In Detroit, Simon Edvinsson is drawing growing attention on the trade front. Elliotte Friedman reported that the Philadelphia Flyers are among the teams interested in the 23-year-old defenseman, and the Seattle Kraken are also monitoring the situation.
Edvinsson is reportedly frustrated with the length of his contract talks in Detroit and may want a trade if the two sides can’t find common ground. The Flyers would fit the profile of a team willing to chase young talent aggressively, especially after their attempt to offer sheet Leo Carlsson.
Edvinsson, who stands 6-foot-6, has 60 points in 175 NHL games and posted 51.2 percent of shot attempts last season. Detroit still believes a contract agreement is possible, but the situation has clearly gotten more complicated.
The Red Wings are also dealing with another name that keeps hanging over the roster: Dylan Larkin. The captain skated in Detroit’s morning session before Tuesday’s game against Ottawa after missing the first two games of the season with an upper-body injury.
At the same time, Larkin has reportedly widened his no-trade list to roughly nine or 10 teams. That creates a tough path for Detroit, since many of the clubs on that list are contenders and may not have the cap space or the appetite to pay the kind of price a blockbuster would demand. For now, that narrows the field and keeps the speculation alive.
In Other News...
Oilers Trade Interest In Young Center Suddenly Gets More Complicated
The Flyers early offensive issues made the front office move quickly, and Michael Bunting was brought in on a one-year, $1.2 million contract as part of that effort. Philadelphia had been short on finish through the opening stretch, and the hope is that Bunting can help add a little more spark to a group that has been searching for goals and cleaner looks in the attacking zone.
Elsewhere around the league, trade chatter involving a young center has only added another layer to the Flyers corner of the rumor mill. Edmonton has reportedly talked with an Eastern Conference team about a possible deal, with Bostons Matt Poitras among the names being floated, though nothing has been finalized. For Philadelphia, it is the kind of background noise that can matter, especially as the club keeps trying to sort out its own scoring picture while other teams weigh whether to make a move. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Face Growing Pressure Around Two Crucial Roster Situations
The Flyers are back in the early-season spotlight for all the wrong reasons, with Rick Tocchet and his staff already feeling the heat after a winless start. There is always a little panic baked into October when the details slip and the results do not follow, and Philadelphia has given its coach and assistants no real cushion as they try to settle the group down and get the season pointed in the right direction.
Across the league, Detroit has its own roster questions building in the background, and those decisions could ripple well beyond its own locker room. Contract talks with restricted free agent defenseman Simon Edvinsson have yet to show movement, Dylan Larkins situation remains fluid, and Kris Drapers shift into the pro scouting department only adds another layer to the evaluation process as the Red Wings weigh what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Already Look Stuck With A Roster Problem They Created
The Flyers came into training camp with a roster that felt mostly decided before the competition even got going, and the shortened preseason only made that approach harder to challenge. Danny Briere acknowledged the team had a preset mindset, which meant there was limited room for younger players to force their way onto the opening night lineup even as Cole Knuble and Jett Luchanko showed enough promise to at least keep the conversation alive.
Philadelphias caution has left it with a familiar early-season problem: a roster that may not have much flexibility when opportunities appear. Even with injuries creating openings, the Flyers still did not lean into them for a young forward, a choice that speaks to how carefully the organization is managing its prospects and how quickly a self-imposed logjam can turn into a real issue once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]