Toronto Maple Leafs reveal lines and here's who McKenna is playing with

The Toronto Maple Leafs took the ice for the first day of training camp on Thursday, and the biggest question was who the first-overall pick, Gavin McKenna, would be skating with.

The 18-year-old star was put on a line with two Leafs veterans, John Tavares and William Nylander, playing on the left wing.

Tavares is taking on a mentor role for McKenna as he settles into his first NHL season with the Leafs. The Leafs alternate captain has said that he hopes to help McKenna deal with the ups and downs of a season and pressure around being a first-overall pick.

McKenna is also reportedly going to live with the 17-year NHL veteran.

From @leal_andre19 who is a must follow for Leafs Training Camp news, via @TheHockeyNews

Gavin McKenna is skating on a line with John Tavares and William Nylander 😳 pic.twitter.com/a929bFM6HH

— Michael Traikos (@Michael_Traikos) September 17, 2026

Many fans are eager to see the potential chemistry between McKenna and Leafs captain Auston Matthews, who scored a career-low 27 goals last season following the departure of his former linemate Mitch Marner to Vegas.

McKenna is known for his elite playmaking ability and put up 15 goals and 36 assists in 35 games with Penn State University in the NCAA last year.

Leafs fans are hoping that having McKenna on a line with Matthews can help unlock his goal-scoring ability once again.

Though there's a lot that can change between the first day of training camp and the opening night on Sept. 29 against the Montreal Canadiens.

Matthews is currently slotted into what appears to be an all-American first line featuring himself, Matthew Knies and Jack Roslovic.

Lines at first Leafs practice of the season

Knies - Matthews - Roslovic
McKenna - Tavares - Nylander
Cowan - Paul - Sissons
Joshua - Blueger - Duhaime
Lorentz

Ekman-Larsson - Raddysh
McCabe - Tanev
Andrae - Danford
Blankenburg - Stecher

Bobrovsky
Stolarz @TSN_Sports

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) September 17, 2026

Roslovic and Matthews are close friends and previously played together while coming up through the U.S. National Development Team Program. So there's no surprise that Leafs head coach Jim Hiller is seeing what their chemistry looks like early on.

The team's blue line also has a slight new look, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and newly acquired Darren Raddysh forming the top defensive pairing, while Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev make up the second pairing.

Toronto had two groups skate at training camp on Thursday morning.

Group 1 featured what appeared to be players who would likely be on Toronto's opening night roster, and Group 2 had rookies and several players who spent a majority of last season with the AHL Marlies.

Two notable names missing from Maple Leafs training camp are Max Domi and Morgan Rielly.

Leafs GM John Chayka told the media on Wednesday that Domi failed his physical and will be out indefinitely.

John Chayka provides updates on Max Domi, Morgan Rielly, William Villeneuve and Cade Webber. pic.twitter.com/WHo7IIRACt

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 16, 2026

The 31-year-old has reportedly been dealing with complications from offseason back surgery, with no timeline for his return.

Rielly, on the other hand, came down with a viral infection ahead of training camp and will likely rejoin the team following the preseason.

The Maple Leafs will play their first preseason game on Saturday against Montreal.