The Maple Leafs made real progress with their prospect pool this summer, but one hole still jumps off the page: they still do not have an obvious young finisher waiting in the wings behind Gavin McKenna.
That was the concern Steven Ellis pointed to in his latest Daily Faceoff breakdown. Ellis did praise general manager John Chayka for the work he did, especially with Toronto landing McKenna first overall.
In Ellis’ view, McKenna is the best prospect in hockey. Even so, the Leafs still look short on the kind of pure goal-scorer who can eventually ease the burden on Auston Matthews.
That matters because the big club has already shown what happens when Matthews is not fully healthy. As Ellis put it: "The big club seems to struggle whenever Auston Matthews is not at full health.
I'm not sure there's anybody in the system here capable of putting up more than 15 goals a season max. That's to be expected when you don't pick high often and value trade deadline deals more than top 75 picks.
Goal-scoring is the most important part of any team, and, yet, it's the hardest thing to find."
Toronto did add depth. What it did not add was another natural scorer.
A closer look at the system explains why that concern lingers. The Leafs’ best prospects mostly fit into other boxes - playmakers, two-way forwards, defensemen or goaltenders.
McKenna is the headliner, but Ellis’ read on him is that he is more creator than finisher. In 35 NCAA games, McKenna had 36 assists and 15 goals, a stat line that shows exactly where his strengths lie.
Ellis also sees McKenna as a franchise-changing talent, and one who had been sitting atop draft boards for months. He described 2026 as a year when having the No. 1 pick was especially valuable. Still, the upside comes with a specific shape: McKenna drives offense by making things happen for others.
The rest of Toronto’s prospect group doesn’t really change that picture. Ben Danford is a defensive option who still has plenty of work ahead of him.
Tinus-Luc Koblar is interesting as a two-way center, though his NHL point production remains an open question. Alexander Bilecki and Ethan MacKenzie are depth defensemen, not answers to the scoring problem.
Artur Akhtyamov could one day become an NHL starter in goal.
That gives Toronto useful organizational depth, and there’s value in that. But it does not solve the one issue Ellis keeps coming back to: the system still lacks a prospect who projects as a future high-end NHL goal scorer.
McKenna may actually make that need more urgent.
The Daily Faceoff comparison puts him in the company of Patrick Kane and Nikita Kucherov, and Ellis believes he can create high-danger chances and distribute the puck at a high level. But he also sees McKenna settling into the 20-30 goal range rather than becoming a true finisher.
That is fine for now with Matthews on the roster. Four or five years from now, though, Toronto is going to need someone else to cash in on the chances McKenna creates.
For Chayka, the task is clear: keep building through the draft, and keep searching the league for young talent. The prospect pool is better. The missing piece is still the same one - a scorer who can turn all that creation into goals.
In Other News...
Maple Leafs Could Fill A Real Need With A Rare Reunion Move
Darren Raddyshs arrival gives Toronto another puck-moving defense option on an eight-year commitment, and it also opens the door to a much more unusual kind of roster conversation. With the blue line already getting a dose of offensive skill, the Maple Leafs are at least considering whether a family reunion could help somewhere else on the roster, specifically among the bottom-six forwards where scoring depth remains a point of interest.
Taylor Raddysh, now with the New York Rangers, has been floated as a possible fit for Toronto, though nothing is close to official and no move has been made. The appeal is straightforward enough for the Leafs: a familiar name, a potential need match, and a chance to see whether the cost and roster fit line up. For now, it remains one of those ideas that makes sense on paper, even if the final answer is still out there. [Read more 🡒]
Troy Stechers Maple Leafs Deal Says Plenty About Surviving In Toronto
Troy Stechers new deal with the Maple Leafs is a reminder that sometimes the most valuable thing a depth defenseman can bring is reliability. Claimed off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers, Stecher settled in quickly enough to earn a two-year contract extension at $1.35 million per season, backing up the kind of steady, adaptable play Toronto keeps needing from the bottom half of its blue line.
Stecher handled a full workload last season, appearing in 58 games and contributing 14 points, but the bigger story is what the contract says about his place in the league. He said the extension gives him stability and a sense of gratitude, which fits the way NHL careers like his often go. For the Leafs, it also signals a quiet bit of business done on a player who has found a way to survive in Toronto. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Face A McKenna Decision They Can't Take Back
Training camp has brought an immediate Gavin McKenna question for the Maple Leafs, and it is one they will not get to revisit once they commit. The first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft gives Toronto a rare kind of flexibility at the start of his entry-level contract, with the ability to use him in up to nine NHL games without burning the first year of that deal.
So the real pressure lands on how the Leafs handle him in camp and through the first stretch of the season. They have to weigh his development and readiness against the long-term implications of that 10th game, which would trigger the contracts first season, and the decision point could come around the Oct. 19 game if he is still on the NHL roster by then. For a team trying to balance present needs with a franchise-level future, there is not much room for hesitation. [Read more 🡒]