Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Gavin McKenna will not travel to Gatineau, Que., for the four-team NHL Prospect Challenge, Toronto Marlies head coach Steve Sullivan told reporters on Friday.
McKenna has been skating at the team’s rookie camp, but Maple Leafs want the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft to be rested and ready for when the main training camp begins next week.
“I was just doing whatever the team wanted me to do,” McKenna said of the decision. “It’d be fun to play some games, but they think me staying here is best, and I’m O.K. with that. I’ll listen to what they want.”
McKenna, 18, played last season in the NCAA for Penn State and was a Hobey Baker Award finalist after registering 15 goals and 51 points in 35 games.
He previously played parts of three seasons with the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers, culminating in him recording 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games in 2024-25. He won the 4 Broncos Trophy as WHL Player of the Year and Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year for his efforts.
The 5-foot-11 winger had nine goals and 38 points in 16 playoff games that season as the Tigers won their sixth Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions and represented their league at the 2025 Memorial Cup.
McKenna and Medicine Hat would eventual lose in the Memorial Cup Final to current-Maple Leaf teammate Easton Cowan and the London Knights.
The Whitehorse, Yukon, native also represented Canada at the World Juniors last season, recording four goals and 14 points in seven games in a bronze-medal finish. He also participated in the 2025 tournament in a fifth-place finish.
The 2026 NHL Prospect Challenge at the Centre Slush Puppie in Gatineau features the Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Winnipeg Jets, and Ottawa Senators.
Toronto begins the tournament on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators and continue through the weekend by taking on the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
The Maple Leafs roster includes top prospects in the organization such as Alexander Bilecki, Ben Danford, Tinus Luc Klobar.
The Maple Leafs’ training camp is set to begin on Sept. 17 with the team taking part in two pre-season split-squad games against the Canadiens on Sept. 19 and Senators on Sept. 23.
Toronto opens the season at home against the Canadiens on Sept. 29 and immediately plays back-to-back nights against the New York Islanders on Sept. 30.
