Maple Leafs notebook: McKenna ‘excited’ for Stenberg showdown

TORONTO — Careful not to read too much into tonight’s showdown between the top two picks of the 2026 NHL Draft.

Auston Matthews allows a little smile when he thinks back to his own first taste of a No. 1–versus–No. 2 battle exactly 10 years ago today.

Patrik Laine, the second choice of the 2016 draft, lit up Matthews’ Toronto Maple Leafs for a hat trick, including the OT winner, in a thrilling 5-4 Winnipeg Jets victory.

Matthews settled for a single assist in a loss. Then proceeded to tally more goals than anyone in the league since their draft. Laine is a free agent.

So, the Leafs captain knows better than most what Gavin McKenna might be feeling heading into Monday’s tilt against San Jose Sharks prize Ivar Stenberg.

“I remember my first game against Patty. It didn’t go my way, for sure,” Matthews said. “Two guys that went one-two in the draft, two really good players that are going to be really good players in this league for a long time.

“I think (McKenna) uses it as a bit of a measuring stick. But at the same time, you go out there and focus on yourself, focus on your team, play the game.”

The game is being positioned as just another one by the low-key Stenberg, who has already amassed six points in his first eight contests.

“Getting to know him,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said, “I think every game is important to him. He’s got a great head on his shoulders. You know, he’s a real savant on how he wants to play the game and understand it. And he's picking up things quickly.

“You see the skill, you see the plays he can make in tight, you see the confidence and swagger he has with the puck, and then his details away from the puck probably impress the most.”

The details away from the puck are very much a work-in-progress for the more dynamic McKenna, whose four-game point streak was interrupted by a benching as the Leafs tried to protect a lead Thursday against the Sabres.

But the rookie’s role has swiftly elevated. He was leaned on heavily in the absence of John Tavares (lower body) and will see shifts on Toronto’s deadly top power-play unit during tonight’s Bukala Bowl .

“I’m excited. A lot of talk between us, and he’s a good player. He’s having a good start to the year. But at the end of the day, I don’t go out there thinking it’s McKenna versus Stenberg. It’s Leafs versus the Sharks. It’s a team game,” said McKenna, who got friendly with his draft runner-up at the combine.

“He’s not afraid to make plays and try things,” McKenna observed. “Just a super confident player and don’t see him make a lot of mistakes.”