The future is now for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as the team selected winger Gavin McKenna with the top pick in Friday’s NHL Draft.
In his lone season at Penn State this year, the 18-year-old McKenna tallied 15 goals and 51 points in 36 games.
In the three years prior with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL, McKenna piled up a blistering 79 goals and 244 points in 133 games.
This pick was almost a foregone conclusion since the beginning of the 2025-26 season, as McKenna proved to be a level above his peers through minor league hockey.
New Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka did not outright state the team’s intention to take McKenna, who was considered among the best prospects available in this draft since before the 2025-26 season began, but he spoke very highly of the Whitehorse, Yukon native on Thursday.
“I got the chance to spend time with Gavin in Whitehorse, and he is a unique player and person,” Chayka said. “It is an amazing story. He never had a skills coach until he was 13. He didn’t have a skating coach until he was 13. He was not in the gym until he was 15. It is that Canadian story of being out in the rink, love for the game, and passion for the game. His unique ability to break down the game and create offensive chances is special.”
McKenna spoke openly about this possibility in the days leading up to the draft as well. “It doesn’t really feel real, but it’s pretty cool,” McKenna said of potentially hearing his name called first inside the same rink where the Maple Leafs took Auston Matthews with the top selection a decade ago.
“Toronto is such a big fan base and passionate fan base. If I do get drafted there, I’d be pumped.”
McKenna becomes the third player to be taken with the top pick in the NHL Draft in Maple Leafs franchise history, and it will be a tall task to match the contributions of the first two - winger Wendel Clark (1985) and centre Auston Matthews (2016).
McKenna said after he was selected that he will have to prove himself before he can play with Matthews, but also recognized that they have the potential to complement each other.
“[Matthews is] on the first line. I’ll have to prove myself to play with a player like that but that’s my goal,” McKenna said, per TSN’s Mark Masters. “My game is a playmaker. He’s a shooter. I think we could complement each other pretty well.”
Clark spent 13 of his 15 NHL seasons in Toronto, was captain of the team for three years and led the team to seven playoff appearances. Matthews is the team’s all-time leading scorer (428 goals in 689 games) and has a Calder Trophy, three Rocket Richard Trophies and a Hart Trophy in his 10 years in Toronto.
