Toronto’s newest star has officially arrived. On Thursday, Gavin McKenna took part in his first official practice with the Toronto Maple Leafs as he prepares
Gavin McKenna is the most compelling player at training camp, as media and fans alike were waiting to see what his initial deployment would look like. McKenna was paired with John Tavares and William Nylander during the first on-ice session of Toronto Maple Leafs’ training camp, and spoke to reporters about his first official NHL practice.
How many of the players to grace the cover of each EA NHL video game going back to 'NHL 2000?"
There is something pretty interesting about John Tavares opening his home to Gavin McKenna. Sure, it is about helping an 18-year-old kid make the jump to the NHL.
The NHL has had an interesting new millennium. It was a league sans a salary cap when the 2000s started… and then the owners locked the players out for an entire season.
There’s something easy to miss in the story about John Tavares taking Gavin McKenna into his home. Everybody talks about what Tavares can give the Maple Leafs’ new No.
Toronto Maple Leafs star John Tavares will be housing Gavin McKenna during his rookie season. Tavares is 17 years senior to McKenna, but he’s uniquely equipped to understand what the Leafs’ rookie will be experiencing, as both forwards were nationally famous at 14, while emerging as prodigies within the Canadian Hockey League.
LAS VEGAS – John Tavares was the last interview of the day…by multiple hours. The sun had set long before he arrived to speak at the NHL Player Media Tour, classy as always, thanking all the reporters in attendance for their patience.
There is a little bit of everything in the latest Toronto Maple Leafs news. Gavin McKenna is getting an early lesson in what it means to be a Maple Leaf, and John Tavares is the guy helping him learn it.
People will talk about the “Mount Rushmore” for a franchise, which is to say the four people, usually four players, that most define the franchise. Not always the four-best players, but the four that evoke the essence of the franchise.
One thing I’ve learned when talking about the Maple Leafs is that hockey teams aren’t built on contracts and statistics alone. They're built with people.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are excited to have Gavin McKenna joining the team for the 2026-27 season, and it appears that he will be in the perfect environment to settle into the league during his rookie season.
Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares is always looking to serve as a mentor, and will be housing the team’s star rookie this season. Tavares confirmed at the NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas that Gavin McKenna will be living with him and his family during the 2026-27 season.
Brandon Carlo is no longer with the Maple Leafs, but his recent comments about Toronto’s leadership group are still worth paying attention to. On the Cam & Strick podcast, Carlo said Jake McCabe, Morgan Rielly, and Auston Matthews were the players who really spoke up and led the room.
The first five players taken in the 2026 NHL draft have already demonstrated their talents throughout their amateur careers. Now the question is—can they show off those skills and make significant contributions to the teams that picked them this season?
In today’s NHL rumors rundown, Zachary Bolduc wants to stay with the Montreal Canadiens but admitted he understands hockey is a business and that he could be traded.
There is something about John Tavares that I think Toronto Maple Leafs fans sometimes get wrong. They look at the $11 million contract he signed when he came to the team, then compare what he does now with what he did when he was younger, and wonder whether Toronto made a mistake.
In 2018, John Tavares signed with the Maple Leafs. The Montreal native was returning home after years spent in the United States. He did so thanks to a lucrative contract offer from the Maple Leafs.
At one time, he was the headlining star for the New York Islanders. A coveted first overall pick in 2009, John Tavares played nine seasons with the Islanders before signing a seven-year contract with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1, 2018.
There’s a funny habit that shows up whenever a young, successful coach gets linked to a big-market NHL job like Toronto. The conversation almost immediately stops being about hockey systems, tactics, or results — and starts drifting into personality theory.
The Toronto Maple Leafs 2025-26 season went about as poorly as they could have expected. Injuries, underperformance, and—even though they don’t like to admit it—the absence of Mitch Marner all culminated in the Maple Leafs missing the playoffs by a landslide for the first time since 2015-16.
As difficult as it may be to believe, the Toronto Maple Leafs are technically still in contention for the NHL playoffs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are far from their best version.
John Tavares made history Wednesday night, scoring his 500th career regular-season goal.
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