Maple Leafs spark controversy with Gavin McKenna decision

Gavin McKenna's first shift under new head coach Jim Hiller could look nothing like what a No. 1 pick usually gets on opening night.

Toronto hired Hiller back on June 17, and he inherits a Maple Leafs group that finished 32-36-14 last season, good for 28th overall.

That's the backdrop McKenna steps into. Not a contender flush with cap space to hand a teenager the top line.

There's a template sitting right in front of Hiller, though. Ten years ago, Toronto did the exact same thing with another franchise cornerstone.

Auston Matthews opened his rookie season on the third line, not the first. Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri sat ahead of him in the lineup that night.

He responded with four goals in his debut, a mark that still stands as an NHL record for the Modern Era.

So why not run it back? Projected lines have McKenna slotting in on the left wing next to Colton Sissons and Easton Cowan, not Nylander and Matthews.

Why sheltering the No. 1 pick actually makes sense

Sissons posted six goals and five assists for 11 points in 66 games last season, and he's making $2,857,142 against the cap. He's a steady, low-event veteran, exactly the type you want babysitting a rookie.

Cowan, still just 21, put up 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points in 66 games last season on a cap hit of $873,500. Pairing two young players together sounds risky on paper.

But it's actually safer than what Matthews got. Nylander had only 22 NHL games under his belt back then, fewer than Cowan has now, and Hyman had just 16.

Here's the thing Bob will say plainly: burying McKenna on the third line to start is the right move, not a punishment. It's a seatbelt, not a benching.

Matthews is still the centerpiece up top, coming off 27 goals and 26 assists for 53 points in 60 games last season, carrying a $13,250,000 cap hit. He doesn't need training wheels next to him.

McKenna profiles as a playmaker more than a shooter, so nobody should expect four goals in his first game. That's not the point of the plan anyway.

The point is giving an 18-year-old room to breathe before Toronto leans on him for real. Hiller's opening night lineup card will say a lot about how patient this new staff actually plans to be.