Connor McDavid stuns Toronto with comments about Gavin McKenna and Auston Matthews
Photo credit: USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
Connor McDavid says Gavin McKenna will be fine in Toronto. The reason runs deeper than Auston Matthews.
McDavid spoke Monday at Zach Hyman's charity golf tournament in North York, where reporters asked about the Toronto Maple Leafs first overall pick.
He admitted he has not followed McKenna closely, then pointed to Matthews as the anchor of the rookie's support system.
“I don't know much about him. I haven't paid attention all that much, to be honest. Seems like he's a good kid.
"He'll have his hands full in Toronto, but he seems like he's prepared for it. He'll have a good support system there too, obviously with Auston, and he'll have lots of support around him, so he should be fine.”
- Connor McDavid
- Connor McDavid
That support is deeper than one captain, and it is not new.
Jim Hiller was hired June 17 as the 41st head coach in Maple Leafs history.
The coach who has done this exact job before
Hiller worked as a Toronto assistant from 2015 to 2019, running the power play under Mike Babcock.
That stretch covers Matthews' rookie year, when an 18-year-old first overall pick walked into the same market McDavid just described.
He ran that power play while Matthews scored 40 goals as a rookie in 2016-17.
NHL.com's hiring release confirms those four seasons, three of which ended in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Edmonton holds the other end of the thread
Babcock is now McDavid's head coach, hired by Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman on June 23 after the NHL cleared his return.
D.J. Smith, who began his NHL coaching career as a Babcock assistant in Toronto in 2015, joined him as associate coach.
So the player assessing McKenna's environment now answers daily to the coach who built the last version of it.
At the same golf event, McDavid called Babcock a perfect fit in Edmonton.
McKenna gets the assistant.
McDavid gets the boss.
Toronto finished 32-36-14 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17, so patience will be short.
The staff that shaped one Maple Leafs first overall pick gets a second attempt a decade later.
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Previously on House Of Hockey
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 28|139 ANSWERS Connor McDavid stuns Toronto with comments about Gavin McKenna and Auston Matthews Will Gavin McKenna score 60 points as a rookie? | ||
| Yes | 72 | 51.8 % |
| No | 67 | 48.2 % |
| List of polls | ||