Gavin McKenna's speed record was the warning, the points are here
The Leafs rookie went pointless in his first three games and has four in his last three, with the fastest burst ever by an 18-year-old.
Gavin McKenna's first week in the NHL looked like a kid finding his feet. His second week looks like a kid finding the gas pedal. The speed was always the tell, and now the points are showing up behind it.
The Leafs' rookie had nothing in his first three games. He has four points in his last three, by our count, including a goal and three assists. Nobody should be surprised. The skating was telling us this was coming.
The number
23.34 mph. That's McKenna's top skating speed, hit against Vegas on Oct. 8. It's the fastest burst by an 18-year-old since the NHL started tracking it in 2021-22. Macklin Celebrini (23.10) and Matthew Schaefer (23.09) held the top two marks before him.
Speed alone doesn't score. What I like is where he's using it. Through five games, 11 of his 12 tracked shot attempts came off offensive-zone plays, not just the rush. That's a college winger learning the pro lesson in real time: get it deep, win it back, then go.
The turn
The first two games were rough. His line with John Tavares and William Nylander was on the wrong end of a minus-23 shot-attempt gap at five-on-five. Jim Hiller's message was simple. "They got to get the pucks a little deeper at certain times and play a little bit more in the O-zone," the coach said.
The next three games, that same measure flipped to plus-14. McKenna scored his first goal on Oct. 6 against Nashville, from Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic, in a 5-4 overtime win. He added assists in Vegas and in Saturday's 6-3 win in Colorado.
Hiller noticed. McKenna played about four minutes on the power play in Denver, per NHL data, his most in six games and about double his average before that. Coaches hand out power-play time like a scholarship. You earn the next one.
Stock up / Stock down
Stock up: Gavin McKenna. Four points in three games, a 14.7-minute average and the speed record. He scored 51 points in 35 games as a Penn State freshman, and the same habits are translating.
Stock holding: Porter Martone. The Flyers' rookie scored his first goal of the season Saturday in Boston, his only point in six games. He's averaging 13.3 minutes, per NHL data, after 10 points in nine games for Philadelphia last spring. "It's not like we're not trying," Martone said. I believe him. The shots will come.
Prospect watch
Gavin McKenna, forward, Toronto. First overall pick in 2026. Signed his entry-level deal July 3. Six games, 1-3-4, a three-game point streak. Timeline: he's an NHL regular now.
Kessler's call
McKenna has six points by the end of next week. The wheels were never the question. The details were, and he's learning them fast.
