TORONTO — Gavin McKenna spent nearly the entire back half of Thursday’s game watching from the Maple Leafs bench, an unusual deployment decision in Toronto’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres at Scotiabank Arena.
The 2026 No. 1 NHL Draft pick logged just 6:36, ending his night with 9:40 left in the second period. He did not take another shift over the final 32:54, a sharp drop from his previous NHL low of 12:46 in Toronto’s Oct. 3 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
McKenna arrived with two goals and three assists through seven games and had been averaging 15:00 a night. Coach Jim Hiller took responsibility for the rookie’s extended bench time, saying the sequence of penalties disrupted his plans to get him back into the game.
How McKenna’s night changed
- McKenna’s final shift came at 10:20 of the second period, with Toronto later carrying a 4-2 lead into the third.
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson was called for holding at 14:35 of the middle frame, sending Toronto to a penalty kill without McKenna, who is not used in that role.
- Morgan Rielly took a hooking penalty at 18:07, and Buffalo’s Zach Benson was assessed an interference minor 26 seconds later, producing 4-on-4 hockey to close the period.
- By the time the third period began, Hiller felt McKenna had been idle too long to be reinserted smoothly.
- John Tavares left at 2:32 of the third after a collision with Buffalo forward Josh Norris, leaving Toronto with 11 forwards. Zack MacEwen, who finished with 5:27, had also stopped playing after 13:57 of the second period.
- Despite being down Tavares and effectively shortening the forward rotation further, Toronto used nine of its 11 available forwards after the captain departed.
“That was my decision,” Hiller said. “We had that run of penalties and I wanted to get him back out there. He sat through the penalties, then I didn’t get him out during that stretch. Late in the period, we were basically trying to get through it. Then he had sat for so long and had the intermission. I probably should have used him early in the third.”
Hiller said the lost shifts snowballed into a decision not to throw McKenna back over the boards cold.
“The penalties were the big thing — he doesn’t play in those situations,” Hiller said. “Then he hadn’t played for more than 30 minutes. We talked about getting him out in the third, but it didn’t happen. That’s on me. Once it got to that point, I didn’t think it was fair to put him out after sitting that long.”
Defensive moment may have factored in
McKenna was on the ice when Jack Quinn scored his second goal of the night at 2:41 of the second period, tying the game 2-2. Buffalo defenseman Mattias Samuelsson got around McKenna at the Sabres blue line before moving the puck ahead to Noah Ostlund, who found Quinn in the right circle for the finish.
Hiller did not directly tie that sequence to the reduced ice time, but Toronto has trimmed McKenna’s minutes at times when protecting leads, leaning instead on forwards viewed as stronger defensive options. Asked for his assessment of McKenna’s game, the coach called it “OK” and “fine.”
The Maple Leafs led by two entering the third but could not close out Buffalo, eventually losing in overtime.
Matthews expects a response
Captain Auston Matthews said the benching should give McKenna extra edge for Toronto’s next puck drop, Saturday against the New York Islanders at 7 p.m. ET. The game will air on SNO, SNW, SNP and MSGSN.
“Sometimes those situations happen,” Matthews said. “Nobody wants to be in one, but everyone in this room has been there. We have his back. I think a night like this will make him hungry for the next game — to compete, take over and dominate. I’m looking forward to seeing that.”
Hiller had not yet spoken with McKenna when he met the media after the loss, but said he planned to talk with the rookie before the Islanders game.
The coach does not expect the episode to linger with McKenna.
“He’s very mature,” Hiller said. “He lets things roll off and doesn’t take much personally. That’s what I’ve seen from him. He’s usually ready to go. There have been other nights where he hasn’t played as much, then I’ve used him a lot or double-shifted him, and he’s answered. I’ll talk to him, but I’m not overly concerned.”
