Gavin McKenna will open Maple Leafs training camp away from the top line, and Jack Roslovic is the name getting those early minutes instead.
The word came through TSN, relayed by Leafslatest on Tuesday night with a nod to @reporterchris.
The read is that a veteran like Roslovic slots in beside Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies while camp gets going, giving the first overall pick room to settle.
Nobody is calling it permanent. The report allows that Matthews and the 18 year old could link up down the road.
Roslovic earned the look. Thirty six points and five game winners on a $1.5 million cap hit is real value in a room full of expensive contracts.
The captain is coming off 53 points in 60 games. Not the season anybody in that market circled on the calendar.
And the club around him finished 32-36-14 and settled into 28th. Easing a teenager into that is not cowardice, it is basic math.
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Maple Leafs make surprising Gavin McKenna decision before training camp
Read that again. Sixty six points from a winger who still ended up buried at minus-30.
He is not alone. William Nylander posted 79 points at $11.5 million and finished at -14, while John Tavares scored 31 times and landed at -28.
The reason is not complicated. Toronto allowed 299 goals, and no line combination in September fixes a number like that.
There is another young forward in the queue too. Easton Cowan put up 29 points in 66 games at 21 years old and will be pushing for shifts.
The lineup also has a hole waiting. Max Domi is out until at least November 3 with a back issue, which opens a spot somebody has to take.
Then there is the crease, where Sergei Bobrovsky arrives at $10 million on the back of a .876 save percentage. That is the real conversation.
So why is everyone arguing about which wing a rookie starts on?
Handing an 18 year old the top line in week one is like giving a new hire the keynote on day two. He might nail it. You still would not schedule it that way.
The smarter version of this is boring. Let the kid play third line minutes, let him breathe, and move him up when the tape says he is ready.
Jim Hiller took this bench over in June with a roster he did not build and a captain with two years left on the deal.
He gets one honeymoon, and it lasts about nine games. What he does with the first overall pick in that stretch will follow him all season.
Should the Maple Leafs put Gavin McKenna on Auston Matthews' wing right from opening night?
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