The Toronto Maple Leafs have already run into a Gavin McKenna problem, and training camp hasn’t even opened yet.
That’s the strange byproduct of an offseason built around adding depth. Toronto went out and stacked its middle six with more grit and a little more offense, and now the club has a roster that can send McKenna in a few different directions. For a first overall pick trying to carve out a place, that’s both helpful and messy.
The projected top nine already tells the story: Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Matthew Knies, John Tavares, Nick Paul, Jack Roslovic, Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger, and McKenna.
From there, the Maple Leafs have choices. They can ease McKenna in on the third line, where he’d likely be sheltered next to players like Nick Paul and Jack Roslovic and see softer matchups. Or they can push him higher, putting him beside Matthews and Knies or Nylander and Tavares, where the talent around him would create more chances but also more pressure.
That’s the real tension here. A third-line role would let McKenna settle in with less on his plate.
A top-six job would put him in better offensive company, but it would also put a spotlight on every shift. Toronto’s depth gives the team flexibility, but it also makes McKenna’s path less straightforward.
And if he does crack the top six, somebody else has to slide down.
Of Toronto’s summer additions, Jack Roslovic looks like the most obvious candidate. The Daily Faceoff had him pegged as a top-line player, but if McKenna claims a permanent top-six spot, Roslovic could be the one most directly affected. His $4-million cap hit wouldn’t suddenly become a disaster, but the role the Leafs expected from that signing would look different if he’s playing fewer offensive minutes than planned.
So this isn’t just about whether McKenna can make the team. It’s about whether Toronto built too much veteran cover around a player who might not need all that protection in the first place.
In Other News...
Maple Leafs May Have Found A Prospect They Desperately Need
Tinus-Luc Koblar is starting to look like the kind of prospect the Maple Leafs have been hoping to uncover, and his first season with Leksands IF in the Swedish Hockey League is giving Toronto a useful early read on his game. At 19, he is already facing older professional competition, and that kind of assignment tends to tell you plenty about whether a player is simply filling a developmental slot or actually pushing forward faster than expected. For a late second-round pick, that kind of growth curve is especially encouraging.
What makes Koblar stand out inside the Leafs' prospect pool is the mix itself. Toronto does not have many young players who combine size and skill in one package, which is part of why the organization is keeping close tabs on him this season. He is still early in the process, of course, but the fact that he is producing while adapting to the pace and physical demands of pro hockey has put him on a more interesting track than most players his draft slot usually follow. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Just Made A Bet Fans Will Instantly Compare To Makar
The Maple Leafs have added a big piece to their blue line picture, signing defenseman Darren Raddysh to an eight-year deal with an $8.5 million annual cap hit. It is the kind of contract that immediately invites comparison across the league, especially with Colorado locking up Cale Makar on an eight-year extension at a far higher number, even if the two players sit in very different places on the rsum spectrum.
For Toronto, the bet is less about matching superstar value and more about betting early on a defender who just delivered a breakout season and could grow into the role the contract demands. The cap implications matter here, because long-term deals at this level shape how a team can build around them, and the Leafs are clearly making a roster-construction choice that says as much about belief in Raddyshs trajectory as it does about the price of defense in todays NHL. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs May Be More Dangerous Up Front And From The Blue Line
NHL EDGE data is pointing to a Maple Leafs group that could look a little more dangerous in different ways this season, with the offense not just coming from the usual places up front. The numbers suggest Toronto may get more punch from the blue line, where Darren Raddysh has shown a knack for high-velocity shot attempts, while forwards such as Matthew Knies, Jack Roslovic and William Nylander bring the kind of traits that can tilt a game even before the puck drops on opening night.
What makes it interesting for Toronto is how those skill sets could feed the power play and make the team harder to defend across a full night, especially if the forward group builds on what it showed a year ago. The question now is how all of that translates once training camp begins, because the ingredients for more scoring are there, but the exact shape of the attack still has to sort itself out. [Read more 🡒]