Maple Leafs News & Rumours: McKenna, Tavares & Building a Team Culture

There is a little bit of everything in the latest Toronto Maple Leafs news. Gavin McKenna is getting an early lesson in what it means to be a Maple Leaf, and John Tavares is the guy helping him learn it. Meanwhile, Tavares is also sounding pretty optimistic about Toronto’s chances this season, pointing to some of the changes the team has made.

The interesting part is that these two stories really aren’t the same. One is about an 18-year-old getting ready for his first NHL season. The other is about a veteran who’s been around long enough to know optimism doesn’t mean much until the games actually start. Still, both tell us something about where the Maple Leafs are heading.

John Tavares Is Giving Gavin McKenna a Head Start on Life as a Maple Leaf

McKenna hasn’t played an NHL game yet, but he’s already getting a pretty good introduction to what life on the Maple Leafs is going to be like. Last season, Tavares had Easton Cowan living with him. This season, McKenna has been living with him and his family for a few weeks, and he’s expected to stay with them during his rookie season. Apparently, the arrangement is going pretty well. Tavares said his kids love McKenna and that the teenager has fit into the family almost seamlessly.

That’s a pretty good endorsement. It also makes sense. Tavares knows exactly what McKenna is walking into. He was the first overall pick in 2009, and he spent his first NHL season living with teammate Doug Weight and his family. Now, almost two decades later, he’s doing essentially the same thing for Toronto’s latest No. 1 pick.

But there’s a big difference. Tavares grew up around Toronto and knows the hockey craziness. McKenna is coming from Whitehorse, Yukon. Toronto will be very different. The attention will be enormous.

That’s why having Tavares, Auston Matthews, and other No. 1 picks around him could be so important. McKenna doesn’t have to figure out everything by himself. People in that organization have lived through exactly what he’s about to experience. And perhaps that’s one of the nicest things about this story. The Maple Leafs aren’t simply dropping McKenna into Toronto and saying, “Good luck.” They’re giving him some help.

John Tavares Thinks the Maple Leafs Can Be a Strong Contender

Tavares also spoke about the hockey side of things, and he wasn’t shy about his expectations. He believes the Maple Leafs can be a contender this season, pointing to McKenna and the additions of Darren Raddysh and Sergei Bobrovsky as reasons to be optimistic. He knows, of course, that none of it means anything until the team starts playing games.

As he put it, they just have to go out there and do it. Management has spent the summer trying to change the team’s look. They have more size and experience in important areas, and adding a championship goaltender in Bobrovsky gives the Maple Leafs a very different option in goal. Raddysh gives them another big piece on defence.

And then there’s McKenna. Nobody should expect an 18-year-old rookie to walk into Toronto and fix everything. That’s not fair. But there’s something pretty exciting about adding a player with that kind of talent to a team that already has established stars. Tavares seems to believe the pieces are there. The question now is whether the Maple Leafs can finally put all those pieces together when the games matter most.

What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?

The McKenna story is one of the more encouraging little stories of Toronto’s offseason. The youngster hasn’t played a game yet, but he’s already surrounded by people who understand what he’s about to face. And Tavares isn’t simply acting as a teammate. He’s giving McKenna the benefit of an experience he once received himself.

On the hockey side, Tavares sees enough in his team to believe Toronto can contend. That’s where the optimism ends, and the work begins. The team has made changes. They’ve added experience. They’ve added McKenna. And they’ve changed the goaltending picture. Now they have to prove it on the ice. As Tavares said, they just have to go out there and do it.