With 31 points in 10 games, Edmonton Oilers centre Connor McDavid is off to the hottest start of his career.
“I don’t think it’s really too surprising,” said Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews. “Since he’s came in the league, he’s been the standard. Obviously a fantastic player and not too many people in the history of the game have done what he’s continued to do. So, it’s obviously really impressive and a lot of respect for him and, you know, a very very big challenge.”
McDavid is 10 points clear of teammate Leon Draisaitl for top spot in the scoring race. He’s also leading the league with a plus-18 mark. McDavid’s only been a minus player in one game this season.
McDavid is on pace for 260 points in 84 games, which would be 45 more than Wayne Gretzky’s current single-season record (215 in 1985-86).
And yet the Leafs feel like Matthews is up to the challenge on Saturday night when Toronto takes on the Oilers in the Alberta capital. After all, Toronto’s captain is off to his own hot start with eight goals and 18 points in 12 games.
“The two best players in the world going against each other,” said Leafs defenceman Troy Stecher, who was claimed off waivers from the Oilers last season. “All-Canadian matchup. It’s one of the reasons you play the game. It’s going to be a fun one.”
Matthews leads the Leafs at plus-five this season. No other player on the team is better than plus-one.
McDavid topped TSN’s Top 50 Players list heading into the season for a 10th straight year while Matthews fell to 14th after an injury-plagued campaign. Matthews produced a career-low 27 goals in 60 games last year.
But the 29-year-old from Arizona seems healthy and reinvigorated to start this season. So, if anyone can slow down McDavid right now, it may be Matthews.
“He’s a hungry guy,” observed rookie winger Gavin McKenna. “He’s very competitive and, yeah, he’s got an unbelievable stick. He’s not on the ice for a lot of goals against. He’s one of those guys who you can put in that situation. We all believe in him and I think you’ll see it on Saturday. He’s going to step up to that occasion and we’re all looking forward to it.”
Matthews got the better of Nathan MacKinnon during a superstar showdown in Denver on Oct. 10. The Colorado Avalanche centre scored twice early only to see Matthews respond with two goals and two assists in a 6-3 Leafs win.
“Same thing when we were in Colorado a couple weeks ago,” Matthews said of the mindset against McDavid. “You’re gonna play some really good players, some really elite players, and you just try to limit their time and space as much as possible. They’re gonna get their chances. They’re gonna get their opportunities and they’re gonna make something out of nothing sometimes. So [you’re] just trying to limit that as much as you can.”
Matthews has faced McDavid 21 times in the NHL, with the Leafs winning 14 of the games. Matthews has piled up 13 goals and 23 points in the matchups with McDavid, who has hit back with 10 goals and 32 points. Matthews is plus five in the games. McDavid is plus three.
Matthews is a three-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner but he’s also been nominated for the Selke Trophy. He embraces the opportunity to try and outdo an elite opponent.
“No fear,” said linemate and good friend Jack Roslovic, who played for the Oilers last season. “Doesn’t get jittery. It’s just his presence is really, you know, calming but alertful for the whole team. He’s definitely our backbone. And his ability to play 200-feet is, you know, ‘Wow, he’s so good.’”
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Roslovic describes it as “enjoyable” to go up against McDavid.
“You get to go against the best,” he explained. “So it’s fun too. It’s fun to test yourself. It’s fun to hold yourself up to that.”
It’s already been a fun week for Roslovic, who scored and added two assists on Tuesday in a win over his hometown Blue Jackets, whom he played for from 2020 to 2024.
“As well as I’ve seen him play,” gushed head coach Jim Hiller.
Roslovic and Matthews are reconnecting on Toronto’s top line after playing together during their junior days at the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.
“He’s a really smart player,” said Matthews. “Skates obviously so, so well and I just feel like the chemistry with myself and him has gotten better and better as we’ve gotten more reps. You get two pre-season games and you jump right into it, but I feel like it’s just continuing to build. And now we have a really good understanding of where we want to play and how we want to play and where each other are at, no matter who’s on the left side.”
Roslovic followed up the game in Columbus with an assist on Thursday against another former team in the New York Rangers. He’ll finish the week by facing a third former team in the Oilers.
“He’s flying,” said Matthews. “It’s been an expensive week for him so far [with money on the board] and it’s gonna continue.”
“Always a fun opportunity to play against guys that you battle with in practice,” Roslovic.
Seeing McDavid and the Oilers up close was eye-opening for Roslovic, who is on his sixth NHL team.
“It was a big learning process for me,” the 29-year-old said. “The culture was really good. It was the work ethic off the ice that was a big learning curve for me. I don’t want to say too many nice things. I hope we beat them. I think we have a lot of that in this locker room too.”
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McKenna picked up a power-play assist on Thursday and is up to seven points through 12 games. The teenager can only marvel at what McDavid’s doing.
“It’s like every night you just are expecting him to put up five points,” McKenna said. “I don’t know how he’s doing it. But I got to skate with him this summer and kind of see what he was like, and he’s out of this world.”
What did the 2026 first-overall pick see from the 2015 first-overall pick?
“Well, first thing that stands out is the speed,” McKenna noted. “I think everyone talks about that. But it’s just the way he sees the game. He’s able to slow it down, speed it up, and then find those open guys and spots where not many guys could find them. So, you know, watching him, it’s pretty crazy. And, yeah, to play against him, hopefully we can shut him down.”
This is the closest thing McKenna, a native of Whitehorse, will have to homecoming games this season. The Leafs will play in Edmonton, Calgary and Seattle before wrapping up the trip in Vancouver a week from Saturday.
“I think I’ll have more [supporters] coming to Vancouver,” McKenna said. “But I think there will be a decent crew coming all over the West swing.”
McKenna is hoping to deliver some memorable moments. The power play is clicking with him on the top unit, but chemistry at 5-on-5 is a work in progress with linemates Colton Sissons and Vinni Lettieri.
“We’re focusing on trying to produce,” said McKenna, who has gone seven straight games without a 5-on-5 point. “I think there’s been times where we’ve been hemmed in our own zone and have not had a whole lot of chances. So I think, for us, it’s just supporting each other all over the ice and playing simple. I think when we’re putting the pucks in, going to work, you know, finding each other, being close and supporting each other, I think that’s when our chances have come. So, if we stick to that then I think it’ll be a good road trip.”
McKenna logged just 10:44 on Thursday, which was his second-lowest total of the season ahead of only the 6:36 he played during the Oct. 15 game against Buffalo when he was benched.
“They played a little bit too much in their own end,” acknowledged Hiller of the third line. “I would say, they’re two offensive wingers, so we got to find a way to get them in the O-zone and playing in the O-zone a little bit more and be more dangerous. So whether that’s more O-zone starts or just sometimes trying to forecheck a little bit more and winning some battles and playing in the O-zone, you know, that’s where they need to spend more time.”
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McKenna revealed the inspiration for the arm-waving celebration being used by Leafs players early this season.
“We did it in college,” the Penn State product said with a grin. “If someone did something cool or they’re, like, a beauty then you do that and then I started doing it here with the guys and it’s pretty cool to see it catch on.”
How did it start?
“It was in training camp,” McKenna recalled. “Someone scored a nice goal and I hit it and they were like, ‘What does that mean?’ and they all caught on.”
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The many injuries on defence for the Maple Leafs will complicate the team’s attempt to slow down McDavid on Saturday. Chris Tanev, who often takes on the toughest minutes, is skating and travelling with the team, but remains week-to-week with an upper-body injury suffered in Colorado.
Darren Raddysh has been slotting in beside Jake McCabe, who is Tanev’s usual partner.
Raddysh is averaging 24:36 of ice time to lead the team in the six games since Tanev got hurt. That’s up from the 23:10 he averaged in the first six games of the season.
“Some guys have stepped up,” said coach Jim Hiller. “Didn’t expect him to be playing this much and so that’s thrust him into more of an all-round role, like a shutdown role. And I don’t know if that was necessarily his role before, but he’s done a great job with us there. I think that’s what’s really been a surprise for us, and maybe where his game is underrated is what a solid defensive player he is. Competitive, strong, great reads, so that’s been really important.”
Toronto’s defensive depth is now being further tested as Marshall Rifai sustained a lower-body injury in Columbus on Tuesday and Nick Blankenburg went down with an upper-body injury after getting walloped by Rangers centre Will Cuylle on Thursday. Both blueliners are now on injured reserve and out week-to-week.
The Leafs have said that the ‘week-to-week’ designation means the player is expected to be out between one and six weeks.
Dakota Mermis, who suited up in 11 games with the Leafs last season and has 89 NHL games under his belt, was called up from the American Hockey League and took the first reps beside Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the third pair at practice.
“He’s played a lot,” Hiller said of the 32-year-old. “Mature, strong player. I think he’s kind of NHL ready, I would say. So we’re not worried about him if he’s got to go in. Played really well in the pre-season too, by the way.”
The team also called up Cole McWard, who has nine NHL games on his resume, including three with the New York Islanders last season. McWard rotated in as the seventh defenceman at practice.
The Leafs contemplated calling up 20-year-old Ben Danford, who is the team’s top defensive prospect, but opted to keep him with the Marlies for now.
“I think the one mistake you can make is maybe trying to rush people,” Hiller cautioned. “We’ve got good options.”
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Saturday is the first time the Leafs will face Mike Babcock since he was fired as Toronto’s head coach on Nov. 20, 2019.
“It’s about 100 years ago, right,” the Oilers bench boss told reporters in Edmonton. “Even the Beatles broke up, so you get on with it.”
It’s been seven years, but Babcock’s impact is still felt on the franchise.
“Babs gave me my chance and pulled me out of junior, where maybe others may not have,” said Hiller.
Hiller served as head coach of the Tri-City Americans for five seasons before getting the call from Babcock to join his staff with the Detroit Red Wings for the 2014-15 season.
“Jimmy’s a real good man,” Babcock said. “I’m proud of him. He’s done real well .... I was going to take my daughter to the University of Portland and he was in that area. We met and he thought 100 per cent different than me, so I hired him.”
Hiller followed Babcock to Toronto when he took the Leafs job, where they were together for three more seasons.
“We had a lot of fun,” Hiller said. “It was an exciting time to be part of the Maple Leafs back then, and I look back on it fondly.”
After a last-place finish in 2015-16 led the Leafs to win the draft lottery and select Matthews, Babcock guided Toronto to the playoffs in three straight seasons. He worked with young players like Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly and Zach Hyman during their formative years in the NHL.
“There was a big focus on defensive stuff,” Matthews recalled. “You know, a lot of video on guys like [Henrik] Zetterberg, [Patrice] Bergeron, [Sidney] Crosby, stuff like that. And I think coming in the league as an 18-, 19-year-old, you know, you don’t really think about that stuff too much. And, obviously, you come to the NHL level and it’s, you know, it’s hard. It’s difficult and defensive positioning, awareness, all that stuff, plays a pretty big part into your offensive stuff as well. So, I feel like that’s kind of what he preached a lot, especially my first couple years.”
The Leafs lost in six games to the Presidents’ Trophy winning Washington Capitals in 2017 before falling in seven games to the Boston Bruins in 2018 and 2019.
“We lost in the first round, I think, three times when I was there,” Babcock said. “But I also know what we had and we had kids. I’m proud of my time there. I loved my time there.”
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Troy Stecher was Toronto’s unlikely hero on Thursday. The defenceman, who wears No. 28, scored with 28 seconds remaining to give the Leafs a 5-4 lead.
Stecher revved up the crowd while teammates celebrated emphatically at the bench.
“It was electric,” Matthews said. “He’s been known to pump up the crowd before, so it was obviously a really big goal. You know, the building was rocking.”
The Leafs have won three straight games for the first time this season.
“It was a huge team win,” Stecher told TSN. “It felt like early in the year we were trying to find our game, find chemistry amongst each other and, you know, we won two in a row and it would’ve been easy for us to kind of let our foot off the gas and prepare for the road trip, but we found a way to have a complete 60 minutes. It wasn’t pretty at times, but it was a great team win. We have some good mojo going on the road so we’re in a good place.”
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Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (rest) did not take part in Friday’s practice.
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Lines at Friday’s practice:
Cowan - Matthews - Roslovic
Marchenko - Paul - Nylander
McKenna - Sissons - Lettieri
Duhaime - Blueger - MacEwen
Groulx
McCabe - Raddysh
Rielly - Stecher
Mermis - Ekman-Larsson
McWard
Stolarz
Bonello (EBUG)