They are putting the league on NOTICE...

They are putting the league on notice as Austin Matthews and Gavin McKenna have been off to a hot start here for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season. In this video, we're going to break down everything about the resurgence of Austin Matthews, talk about Gavin McKenna, how he's playing in his first touches of pro hockey, and so much more. You're not going to miss this episode of NHL Digest. Before we dive into everything here, just want to say around the world for 20,000 subscribers here on the channel. So if you're new here, you want to stay up to date on the latest news around the Toronto Maple Leafs and the entire league. We're your home for it here on YouTube. Scan below, hit that subscribe button. It's completely free to do so. But yes, today we're here talking about Austin Matthews, who has finally arrived after, you know, a little bit of a down year last year. He comes out this season on an absolute rampage. We're going to get into the totals from him, how he's been playing, what his form is looking like recently. We're also going to talk about Gavin McKenna and, you know, how he's going to get bumped back down the lineup, but also gets a big opportunity up on the top power play unit. And we're just going to talk about how he's looked so far in his early career. So, you know, guys, let's dive into it. Let's talk about Austin Matthews, how he's been playing here because he has been exceptional. And obviously, you know, that game in Colorado where they won 6-3 was huge for this team, beating one of the best teams in the league, handedly as well with Matthews having a four-point night, Nylander having a five-point night who's just been on a tear as well. But just wanted to focus on Matthews because it's just great to see him get back to form here this season. As you see, Austin Matthews wins the NHL first star of the week for this season. It's great to see him obviously be named this first star after having a monster week. Look at his last four games. He has a point in every single game. Two of those games, he had four points, including the last one, like I mentioned, against a big team in the Colorado Avalanche. He's averaging three points a game through his first three games. he was averaging 0.3 points but Matthews is back he's found his shot he's found his rhythm and has looked so so good here for the Maple Leafs to start the season as we see here Jim Hiller head coach said just from a pure hockey perspective to appreciate his game tonight it's a really special night for me so it's great to hear about Jim Hiller just kind of praising the captain from a hockey standpoint seeing how great of a game he had and he willing this team as the captain to beat a big team in the Colorado Avalanche to put them you know up above 500 at this point or just at 500 if you want to count the overtime loss three two and one is a great start for the Maple Leafs this season and it looks like everything is starting to come up Toronto with big performances like I said from Matthews Nylander and McKenna who we're going to talk about in just a bit but just looking at Matthews for the first six games of the season for the Toronto Maple Leafs He has 10 points, 4 goals, 6 assists, which is great to see for him. He's a plus 2, winning 57% on the faceoff dot, which is great to see for him as well. He's been playing a great defensive game as well, which is great to see. He has 21 shots on goal. He's back to ripping pucks on net, trying to find goals, and he's found the back of the net four times this season. But it's more than goals than what Matthews brings to this team. His assists a game have been one of his strengths. assists a game at this point he has 3.5 shots on goal a game which has been helping we're seeing him shoot more efficiently and his giveaways a game have been lower right I had 0.5 so he's not giving the puck away he's having better puck control this season and looking like that injury was actually bothering him last year and after a full off season of rest and recovery he's come out and he's the Auston Matthews that we all know and love which is great to see and just looking here early predictions he is on pace for 56 goals this season 140 points he is on a rampage right this is a guy who we could we're talking about get back to the 60 goal mark this season and we'd love to see that obviously uh Toronto Maple Leafs fans would love to see Austin Matthews get to that 60 goal mark again he's back and obviously adding Marchenko i think was a huge piece for this team uh for Austin Matthews having a guy that can set him up they look great like i think Marchenko look great so far in his time in Toronto and Austin Matthews is benefiting from it and it's great to see that obviously uh Rozellvic has been uh benefiting from it as well playing on that top line with him which is great to see but another guy who is playing great and in great form right now is Gavin McKenna building on his NHL breakthrough as we all know he scored his first goal in the NHL on a great shot he has four points for the first six games which is great to see Obviously for him, not a point-per-game player, but I mean, a rookie, a young kid coming into this league, having four points through the first six games. We're taking that every day of the week, and he's looked great on all sides of the puck so far. I like what I've seen from Gavin McKenna in Toronto. I think he's just been a very solid player, a player that, you know, what we expected him to be. Great offensive guys, creating a lot of scoring opportunities with his speed, with his hands. Has a great shot as well, which we've seen on that first NHL goal. And speaking of that first NHL goal, Gavin McKenna said that one felt good when he scored it, which is great to see. And Matthews obviously says, I think you're going to see him go on a tear now with the weight off his shoulders of scoring his first one. So many more goals to come in Gavin McKenna's Toronto Maple Leafs career for sure. But that one was a beauty. And you love to see him have that confidence to take that shot, rip that snipe as well. so great to see McKenna you know obviously come out here and just prove to everybody that he is the player that the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted the hype is real around him and just looking right now he has a 2.73 points per 60 so every 60 minutes he plays he's getting about three points which is amazing it's just amazing production from this kid early on his assists a game are about 0.5 his average and assist every second game his time on ice is one of his weaknesses though he's doing all of this with only 14 38 a night so hopefully we can see him get some more minutes here going further taking a bigger role in this top six and putting more points up because as the more he plays the more his production is going to go up and as we see here Gavin McKenna earns power play chances as well we see him going up on the power play unit when Tavares is out which is great to see he's getting a lot more opportunity up there with the big guns like Matthews, Nylander, obviously Razzle and all these guys on this power play one unit. Jim Hiller says we're not just giving that to him. He's earned that. So Jim Hiller knows how good he's playing and I think maybe the reason why he isn't playing so much minutes is because Hiller doesn't just want to put too much on him right now and stunt maybe his development. But I think giving him more minutes can only lead to more success for Gavin McKenna at this point. I think you're just playing it rational at this point. Right now Leafs power play in the green for digestsports.com. They had 26.3 percent power play at this point 95 of the penalty kill they've been great those bottom six adds for the penalty killing unit were so good like they're playing unbelievable the bottom six you love to see guys like Sissons and Nick Paul and all these guys chip in that way which is great to see and obviously McKenna has a power play point which is great to see as well Matthews gives him more praise here saying he's elite he's super skilled and smart which is great to see which is what we all know obviously at this point he has great hands his speed is terrific he's able to find passes through the seams with with ease as well which is great to see and we just kind of see his ice time like i said it's been a little bit lower uh at 14 uh 31 and over his last five games so we like to see that bumped up because with more time he's on the ice gives him more opportunity to create some more chances and obviously uh become you know a more you know get more points on the board and just help this team out offensively which is great to see and as we all know Toronto keeps testing forward combinations they're keeping you know Jim Hiller's kind of keeping everybody on their toes trying to see who has the best chemistry going forward Jim Hiller obviously says we want to try to find some more chemistry with some other guys as well seeing the Leafs lineup right now in practice I believe this was this morning it was we have Marchenko, Matthews and Rozhlin which has kind of been the same we've seen Cowan with Tavares and Nylander so we're kind of seeing McKenna getting bumped down here with Paul and Sissons but I think he's just trying to you know test this out see which line works best does McKenna and Nylander work best does Cowan and Nylander work best we're just kind of testing things out early in this season which is which is great right you want to see a coach who does that because obviously you you want to see who is going to be the best lines you don't want to you know get stuck in a rut and then you'll not have any chemistry you don't want to get these guys playing with each other early in this season just seeing what works and you know obviously just testing that out because you don't want to get stuck in your old ways and I think that's great from Jim Hiller at this point obviously Matthews who he's plays with he's playing mostly with obviously uh Rozovitsyn and Marchenko he has they have one goals for as a line but three goals against and when he plays with other five on five competitors uh he has you know obviously 64 minutes but five goals for us and four goals again so we'd like to see them maybe have more goals for as a unit but I think this top line has been very good to be honest with you guys I really like what I've seen here now obviously McKenna has been on a rampage over these last couple of games averaging about 0.8 points a game over the last five games yeah he's on a three game point streak right now two points coming at just a couple of games ago and McKenna's on a hot streak right now and it's just great to see this team collectively come together as a full unit. You see them kind of playing as a four-line unit right now, and it's leading to the Toronto Maple Leafs' early success in this season. You have confidence in all four lines, which is, I think, as Toronto Maple Leafs fans know, they've been missing, which is great to see. So I just want to hear your guys' thoughts down below in the comments section. What should Toronto do with Gavin McKenna? Do you think they should keep him sheltering five out of five minutes? Do you think they should give him a larger top six role? Do you think he should just be playing with Tavares and Nylander daily? And do you think that you're prioritizing maybe on this third line and playing power play one more often? So let me know what you guys think down below. For me, if you're asking me straight up, I think giving Gavin McKenna top six minutes can't hurt him. It can only make him a better player. So let me know what you guys think down below in the comment section. I mean, it's been great to see the Leafs have a hot start. Matthews back on form. It's great to see the Maple Leafs back in action here in a tough Atlantic division this year. They need to have a good start, and they do. And now they're going to have some momentum going forward after beating a tough test in the Colorado Avalanche, and there's only going to be more to come for this team. So let me know what you guys think down below on the Leafs season so far. And as always, hit the Like button, subscribe to the channel as always. I've been your host, Casey. Keep sticking with us.