Gavin McKenna Changes Maple Leafs Offseason Plans

Gavin McKenna has brought life into a Toronto Maple Leafs summer that was looking bleak. A chance for Toronto to draft a young star has rejuvenated the fanbase.

The Maple Leafs won the NHL Draft Lottery on Tuesday night, despite having a 8.5% chance of winning. It is the third time in franchise history that the Leafs have the 1st overall pick. While new GM John Chayka has yet to host any scouting meetings, it is safe to say that Toronto will welcome McKenna to the organization on June 26 in Buffalo.

Chayka and Mats Sundin entered the draft lottery with a reasonable chance of losing Toronto’s pick to the Boston Bruins. The Chayka/Sundin era has the opportunity to add what many feel is a generational talent. Yes, there will be some debate over Ivar Stenberg as well. He’s a Swedish prospect who projects to be a stronger two-way player than McKenna long term. More than a few scouts have Stenberg as their first overall choice.

However, with Sundin’s ties to Swedish hockey, the Leafs will be able to gather any information they need to evaluate Stenberg’s game before making a decision. However, I believe the pick needs to be McKenna for multiple reasons, and if Toronto doesn’t select McKenna, Leafs Nation will go crazy. Adding McKenna will greatly impact the Toronto’s offseason plans, especially in free agency.

McKenna Changes Toronto’s Offseason Plans

Adding McKenna to a left-wing position which already includes Matthew Knies and Easton Cowan means players like Nick Robertson and Matias Maccelli are expendable. Both are pending restricted free agents and don’t fit the long-term outlook for the Leafs’ roster.

One thing the Leafs need to focus on this off-season is adding a defensive-minded centre with grit to play behind Auston Matthews and John Tavares. Although Max Domi could play centre, he’s better suited for the wing on the third line. I’ll be looking for Chayka to prioritize a third-line centre this summer.

Adding McKenna to the top six does wonders for Toronto and its offseason plans. The team adds a high-end talent with a bright future for an entry-level contract. It allows Chayka a ton of flexibility within the salary cap. Adding a top-six player through the free-agent market will cost at least $6 million AAV or more.

Having McKenna on an entry-level deal gives Chayka a chance to spend his resources on other areas of need, like defense. If the Leafs new GM can convince Morgan Rielly to accept a trade and can do so without retaining 50% of his remaining contract, it would be another win for Chayka. Toronto could have all the flexibility it needs to improve the blue line.

Having Cap Space Makes a Difference

According to puckpedia.com, the Leafs have $22.24 million in projected cap space for the 2026-27 season. If Chayka trades Rielly with no salary retention ($7.5 million), he will have $29.74 million to improve the Leafs roster. Even moving Rielly at 25% retained will give Toronto $27.86 million to work with.

Now that McKenna is projected to be in the mix, the Leafs’ new management duo can spend more on adding two top-4 defensemen, a third-line centre, and any other pieces they think will help Toronto win. One of the new defensemen needs to be a puck-moving defenseman who can help on the power play. The other needs to be a shutdown guy.