Toronto Maple Leafs coach Jim Hiller said the decision to sit rookie Gavin McKenna for the final 32:54 of Thursday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres was his own, pointing to a stretch of penalties that kept McKenna off the ice before the benching snowballed into the third period and overtime.
McKenna finished with just 6:36 of ice time, his lowest total since entering the NHL as the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft. His previous career low was 12:46 in a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 3. His last shift against Buffalo came with 9:40 left in the second period.
Hiller’s Explanation For The Gavin McKenna Benching
Hiller told reporters the sequence that sidelined McKenna began with a string of penalties. McKenna is not part of Toronto’s penalty-killing unit, so he sat through those stretches by default.
“You know what? That was my decision,” Hiller said. “We went for a stretch where I think we had those penalties.
I wanted to get him out there. He sat through the penalties, and then I didn’t get them out there through that stretch. The last few minutes of the period, we’re just trying to, you know, get out of the period, I guess you would say.
Then now I’ve sat him for so long, and he sits in the intermission. I probably should have got him out there early in the third.”
By the time the third period arrived, Hiller said the gap had grown too large to easily bridge. “Again, the big thing is the penalties. He doesn’t get to play.
We get into the thing, now he hasn’t played for 30-some odd minutes,” Hiller said. “We talked about getting him out in the third, and then, I guess, it just didn’t happen. That’s on me.
And then once we got into that stage, I said I’m not going to put them out there now. I’ve been sitting him there for 30 minutes. It’s not fair to him.”
What It Means For McKenna’s Role
Asked about McKenna’s overall performance against Buffalo, Hiller offered a measured assessment. “Yeah, I mean, it’s OK. It was OK.
It was OK. It was fine,” he said. The coach has periodically trimmed McKenna’s minutes this season when Toronto holds a lead, opting for more defensively reliable forwards in those situations.
Thursday’s benching fits that pattern rather than marking a standalone incident, though Hiller’s own comments suggest the length of this particular sit was more circumstantial than planned.
McKenna was on the ice for Buffalo’s second-period tying goal, scored by Jack Quinn after Mattias Samuelsson beat him to the outside at the Sabres’ blue line. The sequence came before the stretch of penalties that Hiller cited as the start of McKenna’s extended absence from the lineup.
Context From A Short-Handed Night
Toronto’s forward group thinned as the game went on. John Tavares left at 2:32 of the third period with an undisclosed injury, leaving the Maple Leafs with 11 forwards for the remainder of regulation and overtime. That shortage factored into how Hiller managed his bench down the stretch, even as McKenna remained out of the rotation.
Captain Auston Matthews said he expects McKenna to use the benching as motivation, though Hiller had not yet spoken directly with his rookie forward when he addressed reporters after the loss. The coach said that conversation would happen before Toronto’s next game.
What’s Next
The Maple Leafs face the New York Islanders on Saturday. Hiller said he plans to meet with McKenna before puck drop, which could shape the rookie’s ice time against New York. For background on the matchup, see the Total Apex Sports preview of the Islanders-Maple Leafs game.
Toronto beat New York 2-1 earlier this season in what was Hiller’s first win as Leafs coach, a result detailed separately in coverage of the Islanders’ 2-1 loss to Toronto. Thursday’s defeat to Buffalo came days after Toronto’s 5-4 loss to the Utah Mammoth, extending a stretch of tight results for the club this season. More details on the overtime loss to Buffalo are available via NHL.com’s report.
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