The Toronto Maple Leafs’ early practices ahead of the 2026-27 NHL season have already offered clues about the possible linemates for prospect Gavin McKenna in his first year with the franchise.
According to what Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill discussed on Friday’s edition of Leafs Morning Take, McKenna, 18, was tested on a second line with John Tavares and William Nylander, while the first line featured Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews, and Jack Roslovic.
“Now, this is the gist of the lines that they looked like, at least on day one, and I like to try on day two as well, with Knies-Matthews-Roslovic, McKenna-Tavares-Nylander, Paul-Sissons-Cowan, Duhaime-Blueger-Lorentz, and it looked like (Dakota) Joshua was on the outside looking in, at least on day one,” Alberga said.
He added, “Day two, a different variation: you had Nick Paul up the middle, Cowen-Sissons-Joshua, Blueger-Duhaime-Lorentz. So it looks like that last battle could come down to Dakota Joshua and Steven Lorentz.”
Maple Leafs Tweak Lines on Day 2 of Training Camp
Regarding this, Rosehill was satisfied and recalled that these types of variations were exactly what he had asked for in previous editions of the show.
“Yes, it could. I don’t know, man. I swear these guys watch the show, because if you run the tape, I think that’s the exact line combination that I was looking for. I wanted McKenna to start on the second line. I wanted Cowen to play with Sissons and Nick Paul. And I wanted Dakota Joshua bumped down to that fourth line with Blueger and Duhaime, where I think they’ve got a good mixture there, and you can consider that a pretty solid fourth line (…) So far, nothing Jim Hiller has done has wide-eyed anyone.”
In any case, Alberga recalled that we have to take the line combinations we see in the first preseason practices with a grain of salt, since last year, for example, we saw Matías Maccelli on the top line with Auston Matthews, and during the season, at the end of the day, that did not mean anything.
He said, “I’ll be honest, not going to put a lot of stock in line combinations. We’ve seen the last couple of years how different things can look, even on opening night. Heck, we had this combo last year, and Matías Maccelli was on the top line with Auston Matthews.”
Frankly, it makes all the sense in the world that McKenna is being tested on the second line, since both his camp and head coach Hiller himself understand that the progress with this prospect has to be taken little by little, demanding from him at the level of his abilities, yes, but also not putting all the responsibility on his shoulders from day one.
First Maple Leafs Practices Hint at Gavin McKenna’s Line Mates