Maple Leafs select Gavin McKenna with No. 1 NHL draft pick

The Toronto Maple Leafs used the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft on Penn State forward Gavin McKenna at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on June 26, turning an 8.5% lottery chance into the franchise’s third first-overall selection. The pick came after Toronto finished 28th and missed the playoffs for the first time in 10 seasons. On May 4, new leadership named John Chayka general manager and Mats Sundin senior executive adviser of hockey operations.

McKenna, 18, becomes the third player in Maple Leafs history to go first overall, joining Wendel Clark in 1985 and Auston Matthews in 2016.

The Whitehorse, Yukon native made Penn State history before he ever skated for Toronto. He became the Nittany Lions’ first No. 1 NHL draft pick and the fifth NCAA men’s hockey player ever selected first overall, the first since Macklin Celebrini in 2024. In his freshman season, McKenna had 51 points in 35 games, with 15 goals and 36 assists, set nine program records and won Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the scoring title. Penn State also listed him as a Second-Team All-American and a Hobey Baker Top-10 finalist.

McKenna’s path to Buffalo was built earlier in the Western Hockey League, where he scored 244 points in 133 games with Medicine Hat and then exploded for 129 points in 56 games in 2024-25 to lead the Canadian Hockey League in scoring and win CHL Player of the Year. He helped Medicine Hat win the 2024-25 WHL championship, then added gold medals for Canada at the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championship and the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He followed that with 14 points in seven games for Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Justin Bieber, a noted Maple Leafs fan, announced the pick. McKenna called the Toronto fit a “dream come true” and said he felt “pretty fortunate.”