Maple Leafs News & Rumours: Matthews, McKenna & What We Learned So Far

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost both preseason games Saturday night, but this is one of those nights when the final scores probably don’t tell us much.

Toronto split its squad, with one group playing the Montreal Canadiens in Toronto and another group heading to Montreal. Neither team looked anything like the group that will eventually start the regular season. So there’s little point pretending these games told us exactly what the Maple Leafs will look like.

Still, a few things are worth noticing. One of them was Auston Matthews.

Auston Matthews Looks Like Auston Matthews Again

The most encouraging thing about Saturday night wasn’t the score. It was watching Matthews move. Coming back from a torn MCL, the first question wasn’t whether he’d score a goal in a preseason game. It was whether he looked like himself. Plenty of signs showed he did. Matthews carried the puck through the neutral zone, created his own chances and looked much more comfortable skating than he did for much of last season.

He played more than 23 minutes and had six shots on goal. Somehow, he didn’t score. Normally, that’s the part of the story everybody talks about. But it really shouldn’t be. The order of things matters here. First, can Matthews skate the way he needs to skate? Second, can he create the chances that have always made him one of the NHL’s most dangerous players? Third, can he finish them?

Against Montreal, the first two boxes were checked. That’s encouraging.

Another positive could easily get lost because Matthews naturally draws most of the attention. Sergei Bobrovsky played only half the game and faced just five shots, but he moved well and made several good saves. Montreal’s goal wasn’t really his fault.

Nobody will learn much about a goalie from five shots in a preseason game. Still, for a player Toronto brought in for more stability in net, seeing Bobrovsky look comfortable is certainly better than seeing him struggle.

For Matthews and Bobrovsky, Saturday wasn’t about proving anything. It was about seeing some early signs that two of Toronto’s most important new-season questions might have encouraging answers.

The McKenna Line Still Leaves Some Questions

Gavin McKenna‘s NHL debut was promising, but it also looked pretty much like what an 18-year-old’s first preseason game should. There were flashes. McKenna handled the puck beautifully, created scoring chances, and showed why everybody is so excited about him. He probably could have left the game with a point or two.

But there were also moments when the game looked a little different in his own end. He struggled along the wall at times and looked like a young player learning the defensive side of NHL hockey on the fly. That’s not an indictment. It’s probably exactly what should happen.

The more interesting question is whether putting McKenna with William Nylander makes life harder for both of them. Against Montreal, that line was out-attempted 13-8 while spending much of its time against the Phillip Danault line. They were dangerous when they had room and could attack off the rush. Creating that room, keeping possession, and getting the puck back were much harder.

The same thing happened, in a different way, with Matthews, Matthew Knies and Jack Roslovic. Matthews looked terrific, but Knies was barely noticeable, and Roslovic mixed some good work with turnovers and defensive mistakes. The line was outshot 7-2 at five-on-five.

What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?

What happened last night doesn’t mean the lines won’t work. It does mean the coaching staff has some things to think about. Preseason games are for experimenting, and sometimes an experiment tells you something precisely because it doesn’t work perfectly.

For now, that’s probably the right way to look at Saturday night. Matthews looked like he was moving in the right direction. McKenna showed why the excitement is justified. A couple of Toronto’s proposed combinations showed that talent alone doesn’t always make a line work.

Those are small pieces of information. But in September, that’s usually all you have.