The Toronto Maple Leafs and John Chayka could land a franchise-altering talent with the first overall selection in the upcoming NHL Draft, and the expectations are already sky-high.
During an appearance on TSN's OverDrive, hockey analyst Mike Johnson was asked what he would anticipate from top prospect Gavin McKenna if he wears the blue and white next season. Johnson's breakdown revealed some heady NHL comparables that will immediately ignite the fan base, suggesting the dynamic forward has a ceiling favorable to a couple of premier players.
The Heady NHL Comparables for Top Prospect Gavin McKenna
After OverDrive host Bryan Hayes and Johnson both agreed that McKenna performed well at the recent NHL Scouting Combine, the TSN analyst was asked, "What is your reasonable expectation if/when the Leafs pick him?"
"A good comp for him is Artemi Panarin, as far as current NHL guys," replied Johnson, noting the Los Angeles Kings winger has been a "brilliant" player for a very long time. He observed that Panarin is a smaller guy who is a play-driving winger.
Johnson preferred a more recent Panarin comparison rather than players like Nikita Kucherov and Patrick Kane. "I expect him, when he gets picked, to play and be good," said Johnson.
Explaining that McKenna would have better players surrounding him than Connor Bedard did during his rookie season with the Chicago Blackhawks, Johnson suggested the Penn State product "would almost look better than Bedard because he won't be asked to do as much."
"I would expect him to almost look better than Bedard because he will not be asked to do as much."Mike Johnson on Gavin McKenna
Johnson explained that McKenna would be playing with better players and a better infrastructure than Bedard had with Chicago during his rookie year. The former 2023 first overall pick had 22 goals, 39 assists for 61 points in 68 games in his first NHL season.
Of McKenna, Johnson said he will be a good producer who will have moments where he "doesn't look strong enough or doesn't look fast enough, but he'll put up plenty of points and plenty of goals the way you would want him to."
Panarin has accumulated 954 points over 830 games in the NHL. Bedard has 203 points over 219 games in his first three seasons with the Blackhawks.
If Johnson's analysis proves accurate, and McKenna can match the near-90-point trajectory of Panarin or the dynamic, high-volume production of Bedard, Chayka and Maple Leafs management will be absolutely thrilled with their new franchise cornerstone.
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