The Toronto Maple Leafs opened the 2026 NHL Draft by selecting left wing Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick, landing the prospect who had topped scouts' boards for the better part of a year, ESPN reported.
A franchise milestone
McKenna, 18, becomes only the third player ever taken first overall by the Maple Leafs, joining Auston Matthews in 2016 and Wendel Clark in 1985, according to the team. "This isn't what I imagined when I was a young kid," McKenna said after his name was called. "This is so much better. It's a special moment."
For a club that has not lifted the Stanley Cup since 1967, adding a player of McKenna's pedigree to a roster still built around Matthews, William Nylander and Matthew Knies represents the kind of inflection point its fans have waited decades for.
From Whitehorse to the top of the board
McKenna grew up in Whitehorse, Yukon, and is one of only a handful of players from the territory ever drafted into the NHL — an unusual path to the top of the hockey world. Listed at 5-foot-11 and about 170 pounds, he was rarely the biggest player on the ice, but scouts consistently ranked him first among North American skaters for his vision, creativity and quick release.
His résumé runs deep. In the Western Hockey League with the Medicine Hat Tigers, McKenna piled up points and helped the team to a league championship, earning recognition as the Canadian Hockey League's player of the year. Rather than wait, he then spent the 2025–26 season in U.S. college hockey at Penn State, where he finished among the national scoring leaders, was named the Big Ten's top freshman and reached the list of finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the best player in NCAA men's hockey, the NHL said. He also starred for Canada at the World Junior Championship.
How the first round opened
McKenna is the fifth college player ever chosen first overall, and the first since Macklin Celebrini went to the San Jose Sharks in 2024, per ESPN's draft tracker. Behind Toronto, the early order saw the next clubs move quickly to add talent of their own as the seven-round draft got under way.
The pick caps a long climb for a player from one of Canada's most remote corners — and hands the league's most scrutinized franchise a new face to build around.
