Gavin McKenna avoided the Connor Bedard problem in Toronto
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Gavin McKenna called himself lucky to land with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The luckiest part of his situation has nothing to do with Toronto.
McKenna told ESPN that first overall picks usually arrive on tanking teams, and that he had avoided that fate.
Toronto finished 32-36-14 for 78 points, 28th overall, with a minus-46 goal differential.
“You see what Chayka is doing. You see the players he's bringing in. I think we obviously want to go on a run this year.
So it's very fortunate for me to go to a team like that that's hungry and in that winning environment. It's pretty common that players who get drafted first overall go to a team that's tanking, and that's not the case for me. I know I've gotten lucky.”
- Gavin McKenna
So it's very fortunate for me to go to a team like that that's hungry and in that winning environment. It's pretty common that players who get drafted first overall go to a team that's tanking, and that's not the case for me. I know I've gotten lucky.”
- Gavin McKenna
That is a tanking team by any measure. The difference is that Toronto only had to be one for a single season.
The mechanism is the salary cap.
It jumped $8.5 million to $104 million this summer and is projected to reach $113.5 million in 2027-28.
That gave John Chayka room to rebuild an entire supporting cast in one July. Nick Paul, Colton Sissons, Teddy Blueger and Jack Roslovic arrived as depth, with Sergei Bobrovsky signed to stabilize the crease.
New head coach Jim Hiller replaced Craig Berube, and Mats Sundin joined the front office as a senior advisor. The overhaul took eight weeks.
Bedard burned three years waiting for this
Compare that to Connor Bedard.
Chicago drafted him first overall in 2023, and the Blackhawks finished 31st overall in all three seasons of his entry-level deal.
Bedard's cheapest contract years were spent on a roster that could not accelerate around him.
He signed for $15 million annually this month having never played a meaningful April game.
The tank window is getting shorter league-wide
McKenna's three entry-level years run through 2028-29, straight through the largest cap expansion in league history. Toronto can add around him every summer instead of racing his cheap years.
That is the part worth watching outside Ontario. If a 78-point team can retool in six weeks, the multi-year teardown that defined Chicago, Buffalo and San Jose stops being the only route back.
McKenna is right that he got lucky.
He is crediting the wrong reason.
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