Connor McDavid says Gavin McKenna will have his hands full with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he is not sweating it.
Toronto made McKenna the first overall pick back in June, and the pressure that comes with that jersey number starts the second he steps on the ice.
McDavid was asked about him directly, and he did not dress it up in the usual draft-day flattery.
"I do not know much about him. I have not paid attention all that much, to be honest. Seems like he is a good kid," McDavid said, via TSN Sports.
"He will have his hands full in Toronto, but he seems like he is prepared for it. He will have a good support system there too, obviously with Auston," McDavid added.
That support system has a number attached to it. Matthews put up 53 points in 60 games this season, with 27 goals and 26 assists.
The Maple Leafs finished 32-36-14, good for 78 points and a 28th overall ranking. They closed the year on a seven-game losing streak.
Maple Leafs season that ended in disaster awaits McKenna
Gavin McKenna is not walking into a contender. He is walking into a franchise that scored 253 goals and allowed 299, and he will be judged inside that mess from day one.
McDavid put up 138 points this season, 48 goals and 90 assists, with a plus-17 rating. When he talks about pressure, he has some standing to do it.
Edmonton finished 41-30-11 with 93 points before their season ended against Anaheim in the first round.
None of that changes what McDavid actually said about McKenna. Call it a shrug wrapped around a compliment, not a ringing endorsement.
That is worth sitting with for a second. The best player alive was handed a chance to hype the next big thing in Toronto, and he basically said he had not really been watching.
Is that a shot at McKenna? Not really. It is just honesty in a sport that usually hands out canned praise like candy on Halloween.
Still, the vote of confidence is there, even if it came with a shrug first. McKenna will get every benefit of the doubt walking into that dressing room.
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What nobody can answer yet is whether a support system built around Matthews and a Maple Leafs team that lost seven straight to close the year is actually support at all.
Is Connor McDavid's lukewarm take on Gavin McKenna fair or disrespectful?
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