The Toronto Maple Leafs have put an end to the buzz. Gavin McKenna has been selected first overall in the 2026 NHL Draft, vindicating years of anticipation around the Pennsylvania State University star. McKenna scored 15 goals and 51 points in 35 games with the Nittany Lions this season, after becoming the first CHL superstar to commit to college hockey after the 2025 rule change. He finished fifth in college hockey in scoring and won the Big Ten ‘Freshman of the Year’ award. Prior to his historic move, McKenna won a WHL championship while scoring 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games with the Medicine Hat Tigers.
McKenna’s draft profile has drawn comparisons to Jack Hughes and Patrick Kane. His stickhandling and playmaking are his defining traits. Like Kane, he excels at finding options after gaining the blue line and extending play on the perimeter. He is also a chippy stick-checker, despite a thin frame, and fights to regain possession in the rare times he turns the puck over. McKenna should bring more than enough playmaking to complement star scorer Auston Matthews, who dwindled to just 27 goals after scoring 69 in the 2023-24 season.
McKenna achieved as much as he could throughout his junior career. He broke into the WHL at the age of 15 – benefiting from a late birthday despite not being granted exceptional status. Instantly moving into a top-line role with the Tigers, McKenna racked up 18 points in the first 16 games of his WHL career. He nearly paced 100 points in his first full season but ultimately fell just a few points short, reaching 97 in 61 games of the 2023-24 season. That year also saw McKenna make his international debut with Team Canada. He scored five goals and eight points in seven games of the World U17 Hockey Challenge, then set the U17 scoring record at the World U18 Championship with 20 points in just seven games en route to a Gold Medal. McKenna beat out Alex Ovechkin (18 points) for that record.
McKenna stuck with Team Canada at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and 2025 World Junior Championships. He won Gold in the former event, though only reached a Bronze in the latter as part of a Canadian squad that struggled outright – in part thanks to an early injury to star defenseman Matthew Schaefer. McKenna’s trophy cabinet is nonetheless packed full – also featuring CHL All-Star and MVP honors and a Hobey Baker Finalist nomination.
More to come…
