The Toronto Maple Leafs face the Vegas Golden Knights this Thursday, October 8, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The Toronto franchise has won two of its first four games of the season, defeating the Nashville Predators 5-4 in overtime on Tuesday after losing 2-3 to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
They started the season with a 2-3 defeat to the Montreal Canadiens on September 29, but later defeated the New York Islanders 2-1 on September 30.
Meanwhile, the Golden Knights enter the game with three wins in their first four games, having defeated the Seattle Kraken 6-2 on Tuesday and the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Sunday.
Ahead of this game, which will see Mitch Marner reunite with his former team, the hosts of Leafs Morning Take, Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill, made an inevitable comparison between Marner and Gavin McKenna, who recently scored his first NHL goal, highlighting that although McKenna has a better shot than the forward now playing in Las Vegas, they have many similarities in their style of play.
Could Gavin McKenna Fill the Mitch Marner Void for Maple Leafs?
Alberga said, “Tell you what, Rosie (Jay Rosehill), I’m jacked up about this McKenna versus Marner rivalry that we’re not trying to force. I think naturally the questions will be there, like we’ve been talking since Marner left about a replacement.”
“It’s hard to believe a year ago at this time it was what Matias Maccelli on that top line. Max Domi played quite a bit on the top line. They clearly have something here in Gavin McKenna, and I do think to a degree it’s a tough question to ask when McKenna’s played four games in the NHL. But I think on paper, I think what I’m driving at, down the road, McKenna could be a guy that fills the massive void left behind by Mitch Marner in Toronto. Do you agree?”
Rosehill added, “Yeah, there are similarities as far as hockey IQ. They’re built similarly as far as, like, you know, their size. They’re not monster power forwards by any stretch. Great vision, playmaking ability, dishers. I think McKenna’s got a better shot, obviously, with more experience behind him in Mitch Marner, but they play a similar game, and it’s a highly talented, high-IQ, playmaking game.”
“So sure, you could say that. And it’s funny, online people are like, you know, we can thank Mitch Marner- him leaving and leaving the Leafs to go and make the team. They did that; that was so poor that year, it kind of led to getting Gavin McKenna. It’s kind of funny how that works. Who knows where they would have finished and where those bloody ping-pong balls would have fallen. But by all accounts, them being as bad as they were led to getting Gavin McKenna for sure.”
“So we’ll see where it’s at. I mean, he’s gonna get the questions, and at the end of the day, he just wants to have a really solid game. I hope he can make a play that’s an ooh and an ah and ends up on the end of someone’s stick, or maybe his in the back of the net, to have his moment and maybe steal the spotlight away from Marner a little bit. It would be funny from our point of view.”
The Maple Leafs play the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, October 10, at Ball Arena in Denver. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights will face the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.
Maple Leafs Get Gavin McKenna-Mitch Marner Comparison Before Golden Knights Game