Gavin McKenna says Auston Matthews invited him over to his house, and the Maple Leafs rookie called the visit pretty special.
The comments came out of rookie camp Saturday, and they are the warmest thing to leave Toronto in a long while.
McKenna said the captain sat him down to talk and hang out, then framed it as proof of what kind of leader he's dealing with.
In a market that dissects every syllable, a story like that travels before the media session is even finished.
He used the words pretty special twice in the same answer, which tells you how the night actually landed.
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Now the part nobody wants stapled to a feel-good story. Toronto finished 32-36-14 last season.
That's 78 points, 28th overall, and dead last in the Atlantic. The year ended on a seven-game losing streak.
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Auston Matthews did something unexpected for Gavin McKenna behind closed doors
Nylander put up 79 points in 65 games and never came close to the captain's paycheque.
Matthews managed 53 points in 60 games, with 27 of them goals.
John Tavares finished with 71 points. Darren Raddysh had 70. Matthew Knies added 66.
Do the sorting and the captain lands fifth on his own team in scoring.
He also carries a $13,250,000 cap hit, the largest number on the roster by a wide margin.
So what does a house visit actually fix?
The Maple Leafs are selling leadership right now because the standings gave them nothing else to put on the shelf.
It's the landlord repainting the lobby while the boiler sits dead in the basement.
Toronto surrendered 299 goals, an average of 3.6 per game.
Sergei Bobrovsky started 52 of them and posted a .876 save percentage.
That's the actual emergency, and no amount of hospitality touches it.
The roster news isn't cooperating either. Max Domi is dealing with a back issue and is expected out until at least November 3.
Chris Tanev carries an abdomen problem, Dakota Joshua an upper-body one, and Zack MacEwen a knee. All three are questionable for the start of the season.
The captain carries no injury designation at all, which is its own kind of pressure.
Easton Cowan is the other young forward in that room, coming off 29 points in 66 games at age 21.
Jim Hiller was hired in June, so he inherits all of it, the young talent and the wreckage underneath.
McKenna got the house invite. What he gets in October is a lineup that lost more than it won, a goaltending number that doesn't hold up, and a captain who has to prove the welcome meant something.
Is Auston Matthews still worth his $13.25 million cap hit?
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