Gavin McKenna just got the kind of gift from John Tavares that changes a career

John Tavares says Gavin McKenna is moving in with him this season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs captain could not sound happier about it.

Tavares told reporter Michael Traikos he was more than willing to have the rookie crash at his house, and he pushed the idea himself before the club even sorted out housing.

"He's an unbelievable kid," Tavares said. "I've been very impressed with how well he carries himself, I'm living through it through his eyes again."

This is not new territory for the Leafs captain. He hosted Easton Cowan last year, and Matthew Knies stayed with him before that.

"I really enjoy whether it was Easton Cowan last year and now Gavin this year, even when Knies came on board," Tavares said. "It's fun to see that enthusiasm, that energy, that excitement."

He also revealed exactly what he told the front office. "I told John, that if whatever they decide to do, I kind of threw my hat in the ring," Tavares said.

"It worked out that, yeah, he's going to stay with me and my family," Tavares added.

This billet arrangement carries more weight than it looks. Toronto finished 32-36-14 last season, 28th overall, and closed the year on a seven-game losing streak.

Toronto leans on Tavares as Jim Hiller inherits a retooling roster

New head coach Jim Hiller, hired in June, takes over a team still searching for its identity. Having a voice like Tavares easing in a first overall pick changes that equation.

Cowan, for reference, posted 29 points over 66 games in his rookie season while living under that same roof. That comparison will follow McKenna into every room he enters.

Tavares put up 71 points over 82 games last season, still enough production to make him the right voice for a teenager stepping into a new locker room.

Knies chipped in 66 points of his own last year, part of a young core Tavares has quietly shaped one houseguest at a time.

It looks a lot like a junior billet setup for a sixteen-year-old, except this one comes with a locker next to Auston Matthews and Toronto's franchise center as landlord.

This is a good problem for Toronto to have. But leadership from a spare bedroom does not replace results on the ice, and this roster still needs plenty of both.

McKenna arrives carrying the weight of a first overall pick on a team still rebuilding its identity under a first-year coach.

How fast he settles in under Tavares' roof will say plenty about where this whole thing is headed.