Gavin McKenna Opens Up About Chat With Jim Hiller Over Benching

The Gavin McKenna benching for half a game has been all the rage around Leafs Nation the past couple of days. Media and fans alike have come out to question head coach Jim Hiller for why the heck the No. 1 overall pick, who was on a four-game point streak, was nailed to the bench for almost two periods to finish the game on Thursday night. 

But the two have apparently talked and hammered it out, with McKenna saying he was told it wasn't because of his play, and that he learned a lot from watching. 

Gavin McKenna says that while he was sitting for half the game on Thursday night, he tried to learn as much as he could by watching from the bench. He also said several teammates came up to him after the game to make him feel comfortable, which speaks to the strength of the Leafs’ locker room “I knew I wasn’t going to go out there and kill any penalties. At the end of the second, you think maybe you’d get a shift, but it didn’t come… I tried to learn as much as I could by watching Auston, John, Willy and all the vets.” “Quite a few guys came up to me and talked to me, and I really appreciated it. That’s how good of a group we have here. Everyone’s a leader, and they’ve had good talks with me, made me feel comfortable and told me to stay confident. The best advice was just to shake it off.” 🎥: @MapleLeafs #leafs

— Leafslatest (@Leafslatest) October 17, 2026

“Obviously, you want to play, but yeah, we had a good talk,” McKenna said. “He said it had nothing to do with my play, which is obviously nice to know. It doesn't really take away from your confidence at all, so (I) appreciated him reaching out, and I trust him. I trust the team. That's what they want to do, so I'm willing to play whatever role this team wants.”

McKenna said the vets talked to him, 'made me feel comfortable'

“I knew I wasn’t going to go out there and kill any penalties. At the end of the second, you think maybe you’d get a shift, but it didn’t come… I tried to learn as much as I could by watching Auston, John, Willy and all the vets.

“Quite a few guys came up to me and talked to me, and I really appreciated it. That’s how good of a group we have here. Everyone’s a leader, and they’ve had good talks with me, made me feel comfortable and told me to stay confident. The best advice was just to shake it off.” 

For Hiller's part, he complimented the 18-year-old after their chat.  

“It was a good conversation, like Gavin and I have had since I've met him,” Hiler said. “He's a really interesting guy. I just love his personality. “He's got great confidence. He knows how good he is. He knows how great he's going to be, and we just had another good conversation.”

Now, however, Hiller has put a bull's-eye on his back, and everyone will be watching very closely to monitor McKenna's time on ice going forward. The coach's bizarre explanation about how he sort of 'forgot' about McKenna on the bench in the third period will continue to haunt him. 

The game's top prospect has five points in eight games on two goals and three assists,  along with 13 shots on goal and a minus-3 rating. He's averaged 13:57 of ice time.