The Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators held optional skates at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
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What has been Gavin McKenna’s welcome-to-the-NHL moment so far?
“I think just how hard it is,” the Maple Leafs rookie said. “Like, you know, you come in, you believe in yourself, and I still believe in myself, but ... especially in the Toronto media, with putting up zero points in three games, I think you hear about it. So, maybe that’s my welcome to the NHL.”
The 18-year-old from Whitehorse breaks into a big smile.
“It’s obviously not where you want to be but, at the end of the day, I’ve been on many streaks where I’ve put up no points.”
McKenna started last season slow at Penn State where he had one goal and a minus-4 mark through six games.
“Had a tough start to college last year and started to figure things out there,” he said. “So, yeah, I think just honestly learning from last year and learning from these first few games is going to be key. And just sticking with it [and] being confident. I think I know it’s going to come, so just keep working and have confidence.”
Jim Hiller points out that teammates are helping McKenna handle the spotlight and the expectations that come with being the first-overall pick in a hockey-mad market.
“It’s difficult because they spend a lot of time on their phones,” the Leafs coach acknowledged. “So if you’re trying to avoid it, you still probably bump into some of the stuff. What you need to do is just really stay focused in the moment. Stay in the present. I’m sure that’s an evolution for all players. Probably some are better at that than others, but I think over time you probably improve in that area, just like any other area of being a professional.”
On the ice, Hiller thinks McKenna is heading in the right direction despite the lack of production. The coach called Saturday’s game McKenna’s best one so far.
“Yeah, I agree with that,” McKenna said. “I started creating a little bit more and just feeling more comfortable. And it’s just been a process. Every game, just trying to nitpick things and learn from each play and each shift.”
McKenna has identified a couple adjustments that need to be made for Tuesday’s game against the Nashville Predators.
“Probably just trying to get to the middle of the ice,” the 164-pound winger said. “It’s a tough league and there’s not a whole lot of time and space, so when you get those chances to find the middle of the ice, they don’t come very often, so you got to make sure you’re there and you’re ready when you get that chance.
“And just being simple,” he continued. “I think you know in juniors, in college, you can kind of get away with trying to make moves at the blueline and stuff like that and not getting the puck deep, but here ... if you don’t make that play, then the puck’s probably back in your own end, and you’re playing in the D-zone, and then you’re off the ice. So, you got to be smart with your decisions.”
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Since 2000, forwards drafted No. 1 have scored their first goal, on average, in their fourth NHL game (3.89 games). From that group, the player who waited the longest was Steven Stamkos, who scored in his ninth game with the Tampa Bay Lightning at the start of the 2008-09 season.
“I don’t think many people knew who I was in Tampa when I got drafted, so completely different set of circumstances,” the Predators winger said. “When you come to a place like this, it’s a pressure cooker, right. I walked into our hotel last night and the TV was on in the hotel, and it was all Maple Leafs, right? There’s not many cities you walk into and it’s like that. That’s just the way it is here.”
Forget scoring a goal, Stamkos actually went eight games without a point to start his career. He logged fewer than 10 minutes in three of his first four games.
“It’s hard to compare and contrast,” Stamkos stressed. “I mean, I came in and didn’t really play too much. Coming in, I had a coach [Barry Melrose] that didn’t really think it was a league for young players, right? So, it’s different. My situation is different. You look at, [Macklin] Celebrini’s situation is different, [Connor] McDavid’s, the list goes on. The points and that sort of stuff, it will come.”
Stamkos also highlighted that McKenna is well-insulated in Toronto. McKenna has started his career on Toronto’s second line beside 2009 first-overall pick John Tavares and William Nylander.
“It’s going to come for him,” the 36-year-old from Markham, Ont. said. “He’s too good of a player and I think he’s surrounded by too good of players and good veterans and all-stars and superstars in this league that are going to help him navigate, you know, especially what it’s like to play here. I mean, you look and you have Tavares and you have [Auston] Matthews, two guys who are first-overall picks in this league, so he’s in a great spot.”
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Anthony Stolarz, who stopped 26 of 27 shots to beat the New York Islanders last week, will make his second start of the season on Tuesday against Nashville.
“We have a bit of a plan, to be honest with you,” Hiller said. “So we’ve kind of mapped things out and not that that can’t change, but it’s his turn.”
Hiller declined to say how far in advance the Leafs have mapped out the goalie schedule.
“I’ll leave you to guess on that one,” he said.
Sergei Bobrovksy is 0-2-0 with an .887 save percentage to start his Leafs career.
Toronto will open a week-long road trip on Thursday night in Las Vegas.
Juuse Saros, who is 0-3-0 in Toronto in his career, gets the start for the Predators.
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After losing two of three games in regulation to start the season, how important is it for the Leafs to get two points on Tuesday?
“It’s important,” said defenceman Morgan Rielly. “I think it’s a unique way to open the year, [being] at home for as long as we’ve been here, so it’s important we end the right way.”
“Starting off on a homestand you want to finish with a good record,” agreed defenceman Darren Raddysh said. “Getting some momentum going on the road would be big for us.”
The upcoming road trip features games against the Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche and Utah Mammoth, who all made the playoffs last season.
Hiller is trying to keep the focus on the task at hand.
“I know you guys probably don’t like the answer, but every game is its own game,” the coach said. “They’re all important. But, yeah, there’s no question, when you get on the plane tomorrow, you like to come off a win.”
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Toronto’s top power-play unit got on the board with its first goal on Saturday night with Raddysh setting up Kirill Marchenko.
“Their power play scares me a little bit,” said Predators coach Andrew Brunette. “So we have to stay out of the box, especially when you add Marchenko to that mix, he’s a pretty special scorer, so pretty lethal there.”
Although Raddysh is far from satisfied with how things are going so far.
“It’s a work in progress,” the right-shot rearguard said. “We can be a little bit sharper, moving the puck quicker and capitalizing on our chances.”
Raddysh spent time at the end of Toronto’s optional skate working on his touch passes from the point.
The assist on Saturday represented Raddysh’s first point of the season. He had a goal and two assists in his first three games last season with the Lightning en route to finishing with 22 goals and 70 points. That breakthrough campaign, with Raddysh stepping into the void created by the absence of Victor Hedman, earned the undrafted Toronto native an eight-year, $68-million contract with his hometown team.
“He was a guy that was passed up before and got an opportunity last year and ran with it and that’s what you have to do in this league,” Stamkos said. “He’s a guy that is easy to cheer for. Just a great person and tremendous player.”
Did Stamkos see the offensive explosion coming when he played with Raddysh in Tampa?
“I mean, it’s so tough to predict something like that,” the former Lightning captain said. “I mean, you saw the skills that he had and you saw the shot and you saw the ability to skate well and make plays, but some guys are stuck [without a big chance] their whole career and you never get to see that. That’s just how the NHL works. Sometimes you don’t get that opportunity. He got it and that’s what you have to do with it. It’s not easy to do what he did.”
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Projected Leafs lineup for Tuesday’s game:
Marchenko - Matthews - Roslovic
McKenna - Tavares - Nylander
Cowan - Paul - Sissons
Duhaime - Blueger - Groulx
McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Raddysh
Ekman-Larsson - Stecher
Stolarz starts
Bobrovsky
