Maple Leafs’ McKenna era begins as training camp gets underway

TORONTO — Three months after hearing his name called on the draft floor at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center, after being ushered into the Toronto Maple Leafs fraternity by none other than Stratford, Ont.’s Justin Bieber, Gavin McKenna’s next chapter officially got underway Wednesday as his new club opened its 2026 training camp.

The 18-year-old arrives in Toronto amid an off-season of sweeping change, his Maple Leafs approaching the 2026-27 campaign with a new front office pulling the strings, a new head coach manning the bench, and a lineup that’s been tweaked and turned over plenty.

Taking the dais at the Ford Performance Centre in Etobicoke, Ont., Wednesday alongside his captain, Auston Matthews, and his new housemate, John Tavares — three generations of first-overall picks comprising the season-opening panel — McKenna reflected on the path ahead with opening night just two weeks away.

“I obviously have high expectations for myself,” he said. “Coming to a market like this, the expectations are going to be higher — for me, I think it’s a good motivator coming to a market like this, where the eyes are on you and you’re going to hear if you’re playing bad. It’s something I’ve learned how to deal with over the past couple years, especially last year. 

“Some people might not like it, but for me I see it as a blessing in disguise.”

The Whitehorse, Yukon phenom is no stranger to the spotlight after years of attention leading up to his crowning moment at the 2026 NHL Draft. A roller-coaster 2025-26 at Penn State gave him a taste of how to navigate the highs and lows that may lie ahead.

“Last year I had a bit of a slow start to the year, and kind of heard all the noise. And I started to work harder,” McKenna said. “So, for me, I want to start the year as best I can, and hopefully not have to hear that noise — but if I do, I think it’s a good motivator for me.”

Leaning on the two veterans who were stationed next to him Wednesday will be crucial, too. McKenna’s already been taken under Tavares’s wing, the former captain inviting the teenager to move into his home for his rookie campaign.

“That just shows the type of person he is,” McKenna said of the veteran Leaf, who was effusive in his praise for the young star. “Such a good leader. He’s been around the game for a while now, he knows what it takes. … One thing I’ve noticed, obviously he played 82 games last year. I don’t think that comes without the off-ice stuff and the habits he has. So, for me, being a young guy, to try to learn from him early on in my career and hopefully have seasons like that where I can play 82 games, take care of my body, (I’ve) already noticed little habits that I can try to implement into my everyday life.”

The new franchise cornerstone has spent time with his captain, too, McKenna mentioning last week that Matthews invited him over to his home for dinner.

“I want to get to know him — I’m as excited with him joining the team as anybody else,” Matthews said of the meal, through a wide grin. “I mean, it’s not every day you get the first-overall pick and you get a player and person of his calibre. So, I want to get to know him, I want to build that relationship on and off the ice. 

“We want him to feel as comfortable as possible, for him to come in here and just focus on playing hockey and working hard and being a good teammate. That’s what it’s all about. Everything else will take care of itself.”

The question on everybody’s mind as camp gets underway is where exactly the young phenom will begin the campaign — perhaps on the top line with Matthews, perhaps on the second with Tavares, or maybe further down the lineup, with the coaching staff pushing him to earn a starring role.

Asked about his plan for the young star, head coach Jim Hiller — who heads into his first season as the Leafs’ head coach himself — said the club will prioritize patience with McKenna.

“We’re just going to try to be wise. We’re not setting any ceiling on him at all — we’re going to let him dictate where he falls,” Hiller said Wednesday. “Ultimately, we all know he’s going to be a tremendous player in the league. How quickly does he get there? It’s a development curve for every single player that comes into this league. I think he’s got great support around him — Auston’s a No. 1, John’s a No. 1. But you’ve got William Nylander, you’ve got (Matthew) Knies as a young player who’s come in and done really well, you’ve got Easton Cowan on the come-up as a young player. He’s got peers with him, it’s not just the old guys. So, I think we’re set up really well to have the right support around him. 

“And he’s just going to show us where he fits. We have no doubt that one day he’s going to bring us all out of our seats — we’re just not putting that pressure on him, that he has to do that starting tomorrow when he hits the ice.”

Hiller didn’t reveal where exactly he’ll deploy No. 92 to begin camp, but stressed the decision will be made with the bigger picture in mind.

“Our goal is to put him in the best position to succeed, while accounting for all the other players on the team that we want to put in the best position to succeed as well. It’s a team, and he’s going to be an important part of the team,” the coach said. “We’ve really been thoughtful about where exactly he starts. But in the end, he’s got to get out there and play hockey. That’s what he’s done best all his life. And then things just slowly start to reveal themselves.”

How Hiller hopes to help Maple Leafs find ‘a little bit more’ in 2027

While the Maple Leafs’ lineup will have a significantly different look compared to the last few seasons at Scotiabank Arena, the most crucial change made this off-season may be behind the bench. 

After two roller-coaster years under Craig Berube — the first bringing a second-round playoff berth, the second seeing Toronto miss the playoffs altogether — the club’s coaching reins have been turned over to Hiller for 2026-27. The 57-year-old returns to Toronto after serving as an assistant coach for the club from 2015-19. 

He spent three seasons as an assistant coach on Long Island after that initial blue-and-white foray, followed by a stretch in Los Angeles that saw him elevated to his first big-league head coaching role.

“There’s obviously some familiarity there between myself, John, some other guys that had him here when he was an assistant,” Matthews said of Hiller’s return. “The communication’s been great. He’s been around, talking to guys, getting a feel for (the team), getting to learn new people, meet new people. In my experience with Jim, he’s extremely personable, good at talking and communicating with the players. And I think that’s a very important part of this job.”

For the man himself, that emphasis on communication is a fundamental part of his approach to the role.

“I think what I do well is talk to the players,” Hiller said of his coaching style. “I like players. I really respect the players. The game’s gotten harder and harder over the years. It requires more focus, more dedication, more fitness, more nutrition, more and more in every area. And I think you really have to appreciate what they go through. 

“My job, on top of that, is just to make sure that when they hit their level, to try to understand that they’ve got a little bit more. We all do, it’s not just them — I know that for myself. You’ve got a little bit more. And I think, all of our players, what will be the challenge to them, no matter what you’ve done in your career — whether you’re just getting started coming into the league, or you’ve played forever — is (finding) just a little more.”

Chayka provides injury updates on Matthews, Tanev, Rielly

After a 2025-26 campaign significantly disrupted by injuries, all eyes will be on how the Maple Leafs keep their players on the ice in 2026-27, too, particularly amid the rigours of an extended 84-game season.

On Wednesday, general manager John Chayka shared a number of updates regarding the health of the club’s core.

Key among those was the news that Matthews and Chris Tanev are both healthy and ready to return to the lineup come opening night. The former was limited to 60 games last season, enduring a knee injury in March that cut short his season. Tanev played only 11 games in 2025-26, battling a number of injury issues over the course of the past couple years. A healthy season from both, and a return to the form both showed a couple seasons ago, would be pivotal for the club’s chances of returning to the post-season in 2027.

Elsewhere on the blue line, veteran Morgan Rielly is currently dealing with a viral condition, per Chayka, and will be ramped up slowly as camp gets underway. The veteran defender may miss pre-season games but is expected to be ready for opening night on Sep. 29, according to the GM. Depth defenders William Villeneuve and Cade Webber are both out long-term, as the former recovers from an ACL reconstruction and the latter from an elbow reconstruction. 

Chayka also announced that forward Max Domi failed his physical and will be out indefinitely. In May, the team announced that the 31-year-old underwent off-season surgery to address an issue he played through during the 2025-26 season, but complications arose from the procedure. Per Chayka, the winger is expected to address his injury situation himself in the near future.