The Maple Leafs are set to give Gavin McKenna his NHL debut tonight, and the first overall pick arrives with a warning label attached.
Toronto hosts Montreal to open the season, and the Leafs carry a two-game win streak into puck drop.
JD Bunkis didn't dress it up on the Bleed Oil Blue Podcast. His message: the Leafs better protect McKenna, because he's the lightest player in the NHL.
That's the part no coach can scheme away. Skill travels, but weight shows up along the wall, and the Canadiens will test it early.
So how does Jim Hiller handle it? Deployment will tell the story long before the scoresheet does.
The clip catches Bunkis making the case in plain terms, first overall pick on one side, lightest frame in the league on the other.
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Canadiens test the lightest player in the NHL on opening night
The Canadiens come in off a 4-3 loss in Ottawa on Saturday, but they went 4-1-0 over their recent stretch. Nobody should mistake this for a soft landing.
Montreal's blue line features Noah Dobson at a $9,500,000 cap hit. That's premium money on the back end, and a rookie will feel it on every puck retrieval.
Hiller, hired June 17, has cover up front. Auston Matthews carries a $13,250,000 cap hit, and the attention he draws is the best shield McKenna could ask for.
Bunkis is right about the risk. The answer is puck possession, though, and dressing a heavyweight as a babysitter would waste a roster spot on a team that needs skill.
A rookie that light in this league is like riding a bike in the truck lane. You can do it, but you'd better know where the exits are.
After tonight, the Leafs host Ottawa on Saturday and Nashville next Tuesday. Then comes a road trip through Vegas, Colorado and Utah.
Three straight home dates give the coaching staff a controlled setting to shape the rookie's minutes. The western swing will show whether that plan holds up away from Scotiabank Arena.
The hype is massive. The real question is how McKenna looks in the third period of game five in Denver, when opponents stop being polite about the lightest guy on the ice.
Should the Maple Leafs dress an enforcer to protect Gavin McKenna?
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