The Toronto Maple Leafs officially signed top draft pick Gavin McKenna to an entry-level contract, the team announced on Friday.
As TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston reports, the three-year contract will pay a salary of $1.025 million in the first year, $1.075 million in the second and $1.125 million in the third. There are up to $1 million in Schedule A bonuses , and up to $2.5 million in Schedule B bonuses available in each season, which is the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The Maple Leafs selected the 18-year-old forward with the first-overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft in June, making him the third player selected with the top pick in the draft in franchise history.
Both of the two previous first-overall picks (Wendel Clark, 1985 and Auston Matthews, 2016) went on to become team captains in their time in Toronto.
McKenna scored 15 goals and finished with 51 points in 35 games with the Penn State Nittany Lions during the 2025-26 season.
Prior to joining Penn State, McKenna had registered 79 goals and 244 points in 133 games with Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League. He helped lead the Tigers to a WHL Championship in the 2024-25 season, and was named the CHL Player of the Year that season after leading the Canadian Hockey League in scoring with 129 points (41 goals, 88 assists) in 56 games.
The signing was more of a formality than anything at this point after it was reported earlier on Friday that McKenna will give up his No. 72 jersey to newly-signed Maple Leafs goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky - indicating he has every expectation to begin the 2026-27 season with the NHL club.
When Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka spoke about McKenna at an introductory press conference for new head coach Jim Hiller a few days after the draft, he also spoke about McKenna like he was already a member of the team.
“You watch a player for a few years and track him and understand what he could mean for a franchise, but when I got a chance to go up to Whitehorse and get to know Gavin and get to know his family, I quickly realized that it’s more than the player,” Chayka said in June. “I think we’re getting a special person, someone that will fit well within our group, and one day be a leader for this franchise.”
