There is no question that Gavin McKenna is a unique talent. While the “generational” tag gets thrown around quite a bit, it’s certainly apropos for the Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect. But a recent ranking in The Athletic didn’t quite do McKenna justice.
A ranking of the top 150 NHL prospects listed McKenna as a 2C young star, trailing the likes of Montreal Canadiens' Lane Hutson, San Jose Sharks' Macklin Celebrini, New York Islanders' Matthew Schaefer, Chicago Blackhawks' Connor Bedard, and the Anaheim Ducks Leo Carlsson. Of course, all of these players have established themselves as stars already.
On the whole, the ranking listing Gavin McKenna as a “franchise” player is perfectly fine. That’s something we all know. But what does McKenna need to get into the upper echelon, the one labeled as “Tier 1- MVP”?
When looking at the names on the list, Macklin Celebrini, Connor Bedard, Matthew Schaefer, and Leo Carlsson, the Maple Leafs' best young player needs to win some major hardware.
Short of winning the Hart Trophy as a rookie, a Calder Trophy in 2026-27 would go a long way. The recognition that would come from a Calder win would help boost McKenna’s standing among the best NHL young stars.
But it might take a little more than that to convince folks that a Hart Trophy might be waiting for Gavin McKenna somewhere down the line.
Gavin McKenna will need impressive numbers
If you look at the list of players at the top of the list, they have hardware or impressive performances to back up their standing.
Schaefer and Bedard have a Calder each. Celebrini notched a 115-point season as a 19-year-old. Only Carlsson doesn’t have a major trophy or statistically historic season under his belt. But he’s led the upstart Anaheim Ducks to a second-round appearance in the playoffs.
That’s sort of the yardstick that McKenna will need to use to elevate his peformance.
Winning this season’s Calder Trophy would be a fantastic start. Also, notching a 100-point or 40-goal season would help Gavin McKenna plant his flag in this discussion.
However, there’s another thing that McKenna would need to rise to the top of the list: A strong playoff performance. Assuming the Maple Leafs return to the postseason and McKenna can become a factor to some significant degree, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him jump into that higher tier of NHL young stars.
Even without playing a single NHL game, Gavin McKenna is among the game’s best young players. So, his rookie season should provide an opportunity to cement his claim as one of the league’s future superstars.
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