The Toronto Maple Leafs suffered yet another loss to make it seven of their last eight where they failed to get any point whatsoever. The Minnesota Wild came in, Matt Boldy scored a hat trick, and they handed the Leafs a 5-2 loss in what should have been a must-win game.
While there were plenty of players playing some bad hockey, like William Nylander, the focus for some was less of what they were doing on the ice but how often they were getting out there. Gavin McKenna finished Thursday night's contest with just 10:37 time-on-ice. Other than the time he got benched for almost the entire game, it has been his lowest amount of ice time he's been given
So, what gives? What's happening for McKenna, who is overflowing with offensive potential, to suddenly not be trusted enough to even play upwards of 13 or 14 minutes?
Jim Hiller on what he needs to see from McKenna
Hiller was asked what McKenna needs to show to earn more ice time and not finish games with barely any minutes to his name.
"I mean, just be a good all-around player," Hiller said via Arun Srinivasan. "Be dangerous when you have the puck, and I thought he was a few times tonight. And then, take care of the puck when you don't have a play to make and fight through. It's a grind. It's a grind for a young player, any young player. We're 20 games in now. That's it. It's a grind, so he doesn't have to play all those minutes every night. There'll be times he plays more, times he plays less.
Oh, that's it? Just be better?
Realistically, McKenna will get there eventually whether it's during this season, or next year. He is dripping with potential and he might just need to learn how much of a grind he needs to endure play and become a better all-around winger.
That only happens if there is an individual drive to truly become more of an all-around player. But the beauty with McKenna is that it's not really necessary. He's never going to be Mark Stone, but he could certainly be Nikita Kucherov if everything breaks right.
It would be great if there was a coach on his bench that trusted him to give him some prime opportuntiies and some more minutes to work with. Even in the lineup -- we love Nick Paul and Dakota Joshua, but there needs to be some actually skiled forward for McKenna to play with and get some production going.
Through 21 games played, McKenna is averaging 13:56 time-on-ice . He's also scored six goals an 13 total points.
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