- Auston Matthews calls Connor McDavid a “very, very big challenge” ahead of Saturday’s Oilers game
- Gavin McKenna says McDavid is “out of this world” after skating with him this summer
- Read below for the full Maple Leafs media availability video
Auston Matthews doesn’t expect the Maple Leafs to shut down Connor McDavid on Saturday. He just wants to limit the damage.
Matthews was asked about McDavid’s start to the season after Friday’s practice.
“I don’t think it’s really too surprising,” Matthews said. “Since he came in the League, he’s been the standard. Obviously, a fantastic player and not too many people in history have done what he’s continued to do, so it’s obviously really impressive. I have a lot of respect for him. It’s a very, very big challenge.”
Catch the full Maple Leafs media availability from Friday’s practice, with Matthews, McKenna, Jack Roslovic and Jim Hiller:
The challenge is easy to see in the numbers. McDavid has 31 points (eight goals, 23 assists) through 10 games, 10 more than Leon Draisaitl in second. Thursday was his third five-point night of the season, a 6-5 shootout win over Carolina, which put him next to Mario Lemieux as the only players with three in their first 10 games. We covered how he reached 30 points in 10 games with Gretzky, Lemieux and Bossy.
Rookie Gavin McKenna, the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, talked about what it’s like watching McDavid from the other side. He skated with him over the summer.
“It’s like every night you just are expecting him to put up five points. I don’t know how he’s doing it,” McKenna said. “I got to skate with him this summer, and kind of see what he was like, and it’s, he’s out of this world.”
McKenna still likes Toronto’s chances. “He’s obviously very confident so it’s going be a challenge, but I think with this team and how we’ve been playing defensively, I think we can step up and do a job,” he said.
Roslovic played with McDavid in Edmonton last season and mostly laughed about it. “I was living it, I saw it every night,” Roslovic said. “When you get a player like that, he’s just going to eat for the majority of the time, just because of who he is, and if I were a coach, I’d probably do the same thing.”
Matthews pointed to the Leafs’ 6-3 win in Colorado a couple weeks ago as the blueprint. Nathan MacKinnon scored twice in that game, but Matthews had four points and William Nylander tied his career high with five. The plan is to limit time and space and hope the chances that do come are the ones Toronto can live with.
The Leafs (6-4-2) and Oilers (8-1-1) both arrive on three-game winning streaks, with puck drop at 7 p.m. ET from Rogers Place. Four No. 1 overall picks will be on the ice, with McDavid, Matthews and McKenna joined by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins from the 2011 draft.
