The 2026 NHL Draft is just under one month away and Gavin McKenna remains the favourite to be selected first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs on June 26.
The Penn State winger played his first and only NCAA season in 2025-26, recording 15 goals and 51 points in 34 games.
The top prospect joined TSN’s panel at the Memorial Cup on Wednesday to discuss his season and the prospect of playing next season in Toronto.
“Obviously it’s the biggest hockey market in the world. I’d be very honoured,” said McKenna. “I hear good things about Toronto. It sounds like an amazing place.”
McKenna made the move to the NCAA from the Western Hockey League after spending three seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers, where he established himself as one of the best prospects in the world. The Whitehouse, Yukon native scored 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games in his final season with the Tigers.
“I think I can bring some excitement. I’m a pretty smart offensive player and I can make the players around me better,” McKenna said. “I’m confident in my abilities and I’m excited to hopefully make that jump, starting next season.”
The 18-year-old began the year slowly as he adjusted to the NCAA but regained confidence after a strong performance for Canada at the World Junior Championship where he posted 14 points in seven games en route to a bronze medal.
“The style of hockey is pretty different. There’s a lot more skill and more plays being made in junior. College guys are heavier, harder, faster, older. It’s pretty defensive and hard to create in that league,” McKenna said.
“I thought after the World Juniors I got my confidence back and adjusted to the league a little bit. I was playing with new linemates every weekend, so it was hard to get into a groove. After Christmas I was feeling confident.”
McKenna remains the best player available at the draft, according to TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button, and could immediately fill a glaring hole in the Leafs’ lineup next season.
“I think he is the best player in the draft,” said Button. “Now we start to think about the Toronto Maple Leafs and what was the biggest absence for Auston Matthews last year? It was the playmaking winger when Mitch Marner left to go to the Vegas Golden Knights. Well Gavin McKenna is a playmaking winger.”
The Maple Leafs will be drafting No. 1 overall for the first time since taking Auston Matthews first in 2016. The club finished last in the Atlantic Division with a 32-36-14 record last season.
