- Gavin McKenna says most first overall picks land on a tanking team, and he did not
- The 18-year-old wants a playoff run and the Calder Trophy in year one
- Read below for what McKenna said about Toronto’s summer and Auston Matthews’ advice
Gavin McKenna got lucky, and he’s the one saying it.
Toronto’s No. 1 pick talked with Emily Kaplan of ESPN at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase in Chicago about walking into a room that has no interest in a rebuild.
“It’s pretty common that players who get drafted first overall go to a team who’s tanking and it’s not the case for me,” McKenna said. “I know I’ve gotten lucky.”
That’s the line we pulled out on Thursday night, and it reads nothing like the usual first-overall welcome speech. Most players picked at the top get handed a five-year plan. McKenna, who pulled on a full Leafs uniform for the first time at the same event, gets a lineup with Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Matthew Knies already in it.
General manager John Chayka spent the summer adding to that group. Sergei Bobrovsky came in to steady the crease, Darren Raddysh arrived to quarterback a power play, and a stack of veterans filled out the bottom of the lineup.
McKenna was asked what he makes of the roster he’s joining.
“You see what Chayka is doing, you see the players he’s bringing in, I think we obviously want to go on a run this year,” McKenna said. “So it’s very fortunate for me to go to a team like that who’s hungry and in that winning environment.”
His own bar sits just as high. Toronto missed the playoffs last spring for the first time in a decade, then won the draft lottery, and the kid who came out of it isn’t asking for a quiet rookie year.
“For sure, make the playoffs. Hopefully go on a run there with the team that we got,” he said. “And of course you want to win a Calder Trophy in your rookie season. I think if that happens, that’s a pretty good year.”
Matthews has been the sounding board. Toronto’s captain went first overall himself in 2016, and McKenna said the two have traded messages all summer about handling the market.
“We’ve had our convos and I’ve asked him for advice. He’s been an open book,” McKenna said.
Home still comes up in every one of these conversations. McKenna grew up in Whitehorse, Yukon, and he told ESPN he wants to be a role model for the people there. Watch the Leafs’ film on how he got from Whitehorse to the first pick:
He said the one house rule growing up was to stay humble.
“You never want to be that guy who’s known for having an ego or being cocky,” McKenna said. “I think for me, my family did a good job at that.”
Production has never been the question. McKenna put up 51 points in 35 games as a Penn State freshman, finished second in the NCAA at 1.46 points per game, and won Big Ten Freshman of the Year before signing his three-year entry-level contract.
Toronto opens camp in September, and McKenna is expected to push for a top-six job and power-play time from day one.
