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What kind of impact can Gavin McKenna realistically have in his rookie NHL season? · Jablam Sports Hockey

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Jablam Sports Hockey, your home for everything around the NHL.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Peter Bojirinov.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: You can find me on Twitter at P.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Bojanov.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Twitter?
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: 4X, whatever you want to call it, and P.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Bojirinov.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's B-O-J-A-R-I-N-O-V.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: And in every episode, we break down the biggest stories, hottest rumors, player moves, and topics every fan of the NHL is talking about.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're gonna look at Gavin McKenna and what impact he can make in his first NHL season.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, in trending now, my favorite topic, we cover Connor Bedard's new contract, some NHL 27 EA sports talk, and what's going on with Patrick King.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Let's drop the puck.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Man, I wish I had you know my uh old editing suite.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: I could put some sounds in the background.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like, let's drop the puck.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Puck drops.
• 1:03
  unknown: You know.
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  SPEAKER_00: Alright, so we're gonna first, of course, talk about Gavin McKenna, the first overall pick just a month ago, drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs, which is crazy.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: What happened 10 years ago to almost the exact same day in the same city in Buffalo where the draft was held?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: The leaf selected first overall uh Austin Matthews.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: This time around, they draft they draft Gavin McKenna.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Justin Bieber makes an appearance and picks him up.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Apparently, Bieber is now a part of uh the uh you know the guy the bigwigs in Toronto.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so the 18-year-old, of course, is from Whitehorse Yukon.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: The gifted winger rose to become one of top hockey prospects of his generation.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: AKA Yukon Gold, aka Klondike Gold, aka the Wizard of Whitehorse.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Which nickname do you like?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I like the Wizard of Whitehorse, but well, I think a lot of people are calling him Yukon Gold.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: So, what kind of player is he?
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: He's usually described as an elite offensive playmaker, a maybe Nikita Kucharov, with a knack for scoring.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: His strengths are elite hockey IQ, strong playmaking, good skating, and competitive edge.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: The biggie Justin, of course, we know we're gonna see.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'll talk about that in a bit.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: But of course, his offensive high IQ is great in his vision.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh wow, his strengths are of those.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: And what challenges is he gonna face in his rookie year?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, like most top rookies, pace of the game is gonna be the biggest.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: These grown-ass men are gonna be much harder to deal with.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna have less room and better defense on him.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna also then the physicality of the big men.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: And now an 84-game season.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, we're going from 82 to 84 this coming season, so that's gonna be tough because as we know, and even looking at his last few seasons, uh, two years ago he played with Medicine Hat in the WHL in 24-25.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, he posted in 2056 games, 41 goals, 88 assists, 129 points, and a plus 60 rating.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, then the following year, last year, in his freshman season at Penn State 25-26, he had 35 games, 15 goals, 36 assists, 51 points, leading the Big Ten in scoring, and of course, set the Penn State single season record for assists in freshman points, and became the third player in school history to reach 30 in a season.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, what is the realistic prediction, projection for him in his first year?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, everybody's thinking 50, 60 points.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: It all matters where he plays in the lineup, too.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're slotting him in, everybody always already has him next to Austin Matthews.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to add a guy I'm gonna talk about later on in Patty Game.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: People know that.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I would slot him on the second line.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: So where does he play?
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: If he plays on the top line with Austin Matthews, again, the matchups are gonna be a little tough.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: But if they use the bottom six again to be more defensive rolled, maybe open up some more ice time for Matthews and then say McKenna, he could easily put up 50 and then 60 plus is you know very possible projection.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, if he goes on the second line, again, he maybe even favorable matchups, maybe on the second line with San Nielander and Tavares.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Again, again, 50 points is not a realm for sure, and 60.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: And where is he playing on the power play?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Top line?
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Top power play one or two?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: He'll he'll be on the power play, that's for sure, possibly the power play one.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And what would you consider a successful rookie season, Gavin McKenna?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Is it 50 points, 70 points?
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let me know.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Time, time, time for trending now.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Connor Bedard, the pre uh the other Fed Hom in Chicago, got 15 million per year for five seasons with a no move clause, no trade clause, possibly, in his last year of his contract.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Very much like the Leo Carlson trade offer that the Flyers gave him any sign, but the Ducks matched, so he's staying with the Ducks.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Carlson Bedard signs a pretty similar contract, but of course, not up to 18 million, 15 per million.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: So is that the going rate now for a phenom of the new generation?
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Looks possibly like it, but these kids are getting paid, that's for sure, and again, they're getting a little more control too with that last year in that contract, so good for these new generation kids.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Alright.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: But what is causing the uproar in the child community?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's the new franchise connected mode.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: First, we were all saw the trailer, we were all like, whoo, this looks great.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then we looked at the details.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: The mode looks pretty bare bones.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Aspects like player aging, retirement, season stats, don't even carry season to season.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes, you can go more than one season, you would think so in a franchise mode, but it doesn't have these things, these tangible things that we want in a franchise mode.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you can't make trades with CPU, which means what are you gonna do now?
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, are you gonna get 32 friends to play?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Who can do you have 32 friends that are playing video games with you, especially Chell, that want to play this mode?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: If you do, good for you.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: You got a lot of friends.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: But for uh for the others, like myself, I love franchise mode.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: I play it all the time.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have I don't even know if I have 32 online friends, but 32 friends that play Chell, 32 friends that buy the game almost every year, 32 friends that are gonna want to play this mode.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, that's kind of crazy.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: So, man, if if could you like I talk to me if you make video games, talk to me.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Could you just take franchise mode as it is now and then just make it an online version where you put people as the GMs of those teams?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: I uh it doesn't seem like a far stretch in my mind, but it is what it is, and that's what they're talking about in the child community.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, the other changes are presentation, it looks better.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, they got music when the team scores.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, the ice is looks like the arena and everything of those arenas.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty nice, but we want smoother gameplay, we want maybe a little more better gameplay, we want less glitches in the menu.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Those are things we want.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Also, in the broadcast team, out are my buddy, I love James Sabalski, another great one, Cheryl Pounder.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: I love her analysis, but back in are John Buchagross and Darren Pang.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Panger! Love Panger, he's great.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh alright, and last but not least, Patrick King.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: He still hasn't signed.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's July 19th, and Patrick King hasn't signed yet.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: We're more than a month, uh, half a month into free agency.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Kane hasn't signed yet.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: And what I'm hearing for some of the people that I'm connected with, radio guys, play-by-play guys in the league, and bloggers and writers, I'm hearing possibly looks like he's going maybe to his roots, and the best landing spots are possibly right now the Buffalo Sabres or the Chicago Blackhawks.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: So is he gonna go play with Bedard or is he gonna go back home with a team that had a very good season last year in the Sabres?
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's it for today's episode of Triple AM Sports Hockey.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Again, let me know what you think about McKenna and what he will produce in his inaugural year.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Let me know your thoughts on anything we discussed this episode or anything else in hockey.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: I can accept questions.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I can answer them in the next few episodes.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Next time we might dive into another topic.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Possibly Darren Radish.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Who is he a fit for the Mape Leafs?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Was he their biggest need?