It would take a lot to move McKenna off the podium for me and replace him with anyone else. In his first full season with the Tigers, he led the team in scoring - I believe he was 15 still entering that season. Yes, Lindstrom was hurt and only played 32 games, but McKenna had a slightly lower PPG than Lindstrom did. Maybe if Lindstrom stayed in the lineup, McKenna would have had a higher PPG - it does make sense, but even if not, Lindstrom was 2 years older and WAY bigger, and was drafted 4th overall even with injury concerns. Yes, big center vs average sized winger.. but McKenna looked like the straw that stirred the drink there.
I see shades of 2014 - MacKinnon highly touted, but didn't even end up as the top scorer on his own team, and Jones became the slight favourite at the time for Colorado to pick him 1st overall. At this point, I would pick McKenna quite easily still. Maybe the rest of the season sways me to prefer Verhoeff over him (or someone else), but I look at McKenna as a game-changing catalyst to build around.
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