McKenna, the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft is expected to play on a line at left wing along with center John Tavares and right wing William Nylander.
"He's found them a lot with a lot pucks," Hiller said of McKenna. "So when you have three guys who can find each other and you're not relying on one guy and maybe the second guy, the way I see it is there is three guys who are moving it around pretty well."
McKenna has skated with Tavares and Nylander at the first two on-ice sessions since training camp began on Thursday.
Starting with two highly established NHL veterans, Hiller said he was initially concerned that McKenna would be overly deferential, looking to force the puck to either Tavares or Nylander, but has not found that to be an issue for the 18-year-old through two days of practice.
"I haven't seen that at all," Hiller said. "He's just a nice young man, no air about him. He's confident in his own way, certainly not cocky. But when he gets on the ice, he knows how good he is and I thought that might be a problem, but he's not selfish, he just makes the right play when it needs to be made. Very impressive."
Captain Auston Matthews, who was selected No. 1 by the Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Draft, has been impressed by McKenna in camp.
"He's great, he plays with a lot of confidence," Matthews said. "I think he's come in right away and found his groove. You can tell when he's on the ice and has the puck, the kind of skill, and the plays that he can make. That line seems to have meshed really well over the last few days, three extremely talented and skilled players that can move, can make plays and are dangerous one on one. So I think he's fitting really well with those guys, and fitting really well with the team so far and seems very comfortable and has the confidence that he knows he's a great player, and that he can play at this level, too."
