Gavin McKenna is rewriting how people talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs' prospect pool, and the numbers back it up this week.
Daily Faceoff's Steven Ellis ranked Toronto's group as the NHL's third-most improved pool, a jump from 24th all the way to 15th overall.
A year ago, nobody had Toronto drafting first overall, let alone landing a winger this loaded. Funny how fast things change.
Toronto's system went from a bargain bin nobody browsed to a case scouts actually want to shop from.
The Marlies backed it up on the ice too, winning the Calder Cup while goaltender Artur Akhtyamov walked away with postseason MVP honors.
Ben Danford showed a new habit of jumping into the rush on the back end, while Tinus Luc Koblar delivered big minutes for Norway at the World Championship.
Harry Nansi left development camp as the most improved player in the entire group, more proof the pipeline isn't running thin anymore.
The Calder Cup run that reshaped Toronto's goaltending plans
Akhtyamov's emergence made goaltender Dennis Hildeby expendable in Toronto's eyes.
He got dealt to Tampa Bay, along with two draft picks, in the July 1 trade that brought back Nick Paul.
Leaning this hard on unproven kids while still trying to keep pace in a brutal league is a tightrope walk. Not every front office survives that walk.
Toronto finished last season 28th overall, well outside the range teams usually rebuild from.
So is the rebuild quietly underway? Toronto's front office won't call it that.
Alexander Bilecki gives them another puck-moving option on defense. He arrived at development camp fresh off a Memorial Cup title with the Kitchener Rangers and looked ready for the next step.
With McKenna about to graduate to the show, Toronto says it can compete now while the rest of this group grows into NHL players. Whether that math actually works is the part nobody in the building wants to answer honestly.
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Is landing Gavin McKenna enough to justify Toronto's build-while-competing approach?
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