McKenna attends 1st rookie practice, stoked for Maple Leafs' season opener

TORONTO -- Gavin Bayreuther said he felt the summer went by quickly even though when he was selected No. 1 by the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2026 NHL Draft on June 26, the start of the regular season still seemed far away.

But now with the start of training camp days away, the dream of beginning his NHL career is starting to feel more real.

"Yeah it does for sure," McKenna said Friday after practicing with Toronto's rookies ahead of the 2026 NHL Prospect Challenge. "You want to get there. It's something I've been waiting for all summer. Looking forward to playing Montreal (in the regular-season opener on Sept. 29), to play at Scotiabank, it's something you dream of as a kid to play that first game so it's kind of flown by for me with how busy I was. So for it to finally being coming close and getting into the groove of things now, it's been awesome and I can't wait."

McKenna will not travel to Gatineau, Quebec, for Toronto's two games at the Prospect Challenge. Maple Leafs management decided it would be more productive for him to join the rookies for their orientation dinner on Thursday and practice Friday but remain in Toronto to continue training with the NHL group ahead of the start of training camp next week.

After just one practice, Toronto Marlies coach Steve Sullivan, who is overseeing the team for the Prospect Challenge, came away impressed.

"His deception, the way he thinks the game, he's a step ahead of everybody else with his execution," Sullivan said. "We're just coming out of summer hockey and we are trying to implement a little bit of structure today, but he was still able to execute when things are out of structure, when things are not perfect, he still finds a way to make the play so that's very impressive."

The first few weeks of the summer were a whirlwind for McKenna after getting drafted, but he spent a week in Muskoka, Ontario, recently skating with players including Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard of the Edmonton Oilers, Mitch Marner of the Vegas Golden Knights and Maple Leafs teammate John Tavares, and has since been participating in informal skates with Toronto.

"It was a busy summer. I wasn't on the ice as much as I wanted to be (early) but once things settled down, I got into a groove," McKenna said. "I was training in Vancouver with some elite talent there and then to come here and skate with the pro guys and get a feel for it, I feel really good. Even today to skate out there with the young guys, the pace was really good, a lot of plays were being made and I feel ready to go."

"Watching those guys and trying to learn as much from them as you can, to see those guys in person, it's a lot different than on TV. Skating with McDavid, Draisaitl, it was super awesome and they were all great guys."

McKenna said Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews invited him over for dinner recently and the two have skated together during informal skates.

"When you're a kid and you see those guys on TV, you don't really expect to meet them so to be at his house, it was pretty special for him to invite me over and sit down and talk with him and hang out," McKenna said. "That's just the type of leader he is, he knows I'm a young guy and he's trying to welcome me in, so it was special for him to do that and I appreciate it."

While the Maple Leafs rookies were skating, on another ice surface at Toronto's practice facility was Matthews working with Jack Roslovic, his former teammate with the U.S National Under-18 Team in 2014-15 who signed a two-year contract with the Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Whether McKenna lands a role on a line alongside Matthews remains to be seen, but he said he would not shy away from the opportunity.

"To play with a player like that, of that caliber, it would be pretty special," McKenna said. "I think we would suit each other pretty well. Him being an older veteran guy, I think I can learn a lot from him and him being the captain of the Leafs, there's a lot to learn from him. He's an amazing player and if I get that opportunity I'm not going to try and waste it.

"He's unreal, he's fun to watch and to play with him, he's super smart and obviously he has that release so you kind of want to give him the puck when he's open and hopefully get that assist."

After practice, Sullivan said McKenna reminded him of Clayton Keller, who he worked with when he was with the Arizona Coyotes from 2014-21 in a variety of roles.

"A smaller statured player (McKenna is 5-foot-11, 170 pounds), their games are a little bit different; Keller is a little more of a shooter, Gavin is a little more of a play maker but style of play and how they look on the ice, that was my first impression," Sullivan said.

While McKenna said he would have liked to play a game at the Prospect Challenge, he understood the decision. With a short training camp, the chance to continue skating with the NHL roster is too valuable to pass up.

If it was a whirlwind after he was drafted, he knows it'll be a similar experience when training camp opens next week ahead of the regular-season opener in less than three weeks.

And with his experience so far, McKenna is ready for the challenge.

"Just how smart everyone is," McKenna said. "Every single guy out there is going to find you in those spots so just always being ready (is important). I think I fit in well and that's my type of game, smart hockey, so learning how to read off these guys and play with them, it's been fun and I'm looking forward to the adjustment."

"Once you're in that locker room, it's pretty easy to block out all the noise."