TORONTO — It’s been a while, but Gavin McKenna is trying to focus on his next shift.
Can the first-overall draft pick recall the last time he got stapled to the bench for more than half a game, as was the case in Thursday’s loss to the Buffalo Sabres?
“Uhh… I can't say it’s ever happened. So, that was a first,” McKenna conceded Saturday at the Toronto Maple Leafs’ morning skate.
The star rookie, who had entered Thursday’s action on a four-game point streak, knew he wouldn’t be used in the second period when Toronto had to kill penalties.
But once the PKers hopped off…
“At the end of the second, you think maybe you'd get a shift, but it didn't come. And then you sit for a while and then get a little bit cold, and then obviously you're hoping for a shift. But when it doesn't come, I think you start to realize that you're going to be watching a little bit. So, for me, honestly, sitting there watching, I tried to learn as much as I could,” McKenna explained of his bizarre benching by head coach Jim Hiller.
“Obviously, you want to play, but we had a good talk. We have a good relationship together, me and Jim. He said it had nothing to do with my play, which is nice to know. You know, doesn't really take away from your confidence at all. So I appreciated him reaching out, and, I mean, I trust him. I trust the team. Trust what they want to do. So, I'm willing to play whatever role this team wants.”
Several Maple Leafs teammates approached McKenna and offered encouragement regarding the incident, which helped ease the 18-year-old’s mind.
“They're all behind me, and I'm behind all of them. So, they've had good talks with me, made me feel comfortable, and just told me to stay confident,” McKenna said.
Hiller says he thought about calling No. 92 a couple times in the third period but decided against it, leaning heavy on his most defensively responsible forwards as a 4-2 lead blew up into a 5-4 overtime loss.
The coach said he had a positive talk with McKenna to explain his decision.
“He’s a really interesting guy. I just love his personality. He's got great confidence. He knows how good he is. He knows how great he's going to be, and we just had another good conversation,” said Hiller, who is striving to tighten up his skilled but porous group’s play defensively.
“It's not only (McKenna). Every player has got to get a little bit better on our team without the puck, I think we're pretty good with it. So, that's something we address daily with our entire team.”
It’s been a few years, but offensive stud William Nylander can relate to McKenna’s sinking feeling of getting benched as a Leaf.
“It’s never fun to be in that position. But sometimes it happens, and you just want to come back next game. I'm sure it wasn’t any purpose behind it,” Nylander said. “Didn't think he was playing bad or anything. But sometimes you get lost in the rotation or stuff. So, yeah, and I think he did a great job of handling it.”
McKenna will start on Toronto’s third line Saturday against the Islanders and receive a promotion to the top power-play unit with John Tavares injured.
“I got big shoes to fill there. John, he's one of the best guys down low. So, very smart hockey player and has played well on that power play,” McKenna said.
“I’m just going to try and be confident and get some puck touches and get a feel for it. And being a net-front guy, you got to be first to those pucks in the corners. So, for me, trying to be as hard as I can, win pucks back, and just play my role.”
As for seeing his role diminished to under seven minutes Thursday?
“I’m just trying not to think about it at this point,” McKenna said.
Leafs must ‘dig in’ with Tavares out weeks
The durable Tavares was the only Maple Leaf healthy enough to play all 82 games last season, but his strong start — seven points in seven games — will now be derailed weeks with an undisclosed lower-body ailment.
“Hopefully” only two weeks, according to Hiller. But that sounds like the minimum.
“John was playing well, too. That’s a tough one for us, just on the heels of Tanny too. So, those are two veteran players, and you just got to find a way,” Hiller said.
Nick Paul gets the bump up to second-line centre.
“He’s been huge for our team, both on the ice and off the ice. Just an amazing character, and the way he plays both sides of the puck, and working his bag off every night, and obviously his size that he has out there,” said Nylander, hopeful that Tavares’s absence will rally the group.
“One of the top players in the league for a long time. So, it's tough to see that happen. Hopefully he's back soon. But that's where we got to dig in as a team and build some character out of this process.”
Colton Sissons, who prefers the middle anyway, becomes the defensive conscience of the third line flanked by playmaker McKenna and Bo Groulx, who has had a rocky ride in and out of the fourth line.
“Colton and Bo both work their bags off. So I’m looking forward to getting into it with them and just trying to build off each other and make sure we're working hard and playing simple,” said McKenna, now the only active skater in the Tavares house.
“It’s obviously scary when you see a guy go down like that, and especially a guy like John, who’s meant so much to this team and this city. He’s a backbone to our team, and he's coming out there every single game, and he’s working as hard as he can every single shift. So, to have a guy like him not being in the lineup, it's tough. But I think it motivates us all to kind of step up and play a bigger role.”
One-Timers: Encouraging to see Chris Tanev (week to week, upper body) hanging around the room and jumping on the ice for a solo workout just one week after going down in Colorado…. Nylander is now clean-shaven: “My moustache was growing into my mouth, so I had to get rid of it.”… Hiller anticipates leaning on top-six Easton Cowan more with Tavares out…. Marshall Rifai will be a healthy scratch…. Nylander says fatigue from the Western Conference trip affected Thursday’s performance. That explains not practising Friday. “We were kind of tired,” he said. “I mean, flying back and then playing the next day was a little bagger.”
Maple Leafs projected lineup Saturday vs. New York Islanders
Roslovic – Matthews – Nylander
Cowan – Paul – Marchenko
McKenna – Sissons – Groulx
Duhaime – Blueger – MacEwen
McCabe – Raddysh
Rielly – Stecher
Ekman-Larsson – Blankenburg
Bobrovsky starts
Stolarz
