Maple Leafs make forward Gavin McKenna first pick of NHL draft

Gavin McKenna will continue sporting blue and white.

The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted the slick Whitehorse-born winger with the No. 1 pick on Friday night in Buffalo, N.Y. The pick was announced by Canadian pop icon and Maple Leafs fan Justin Bieber.

McKenna is coming off a freshman season at Penn State where he put up 15 goals and 51 points across 35 NCAA games following a pair of dominant campaigns with the Western Hockey League's Medicine Hat Tigers.

The 18-year-old joins an Original Six franchise coming off a disastrous 2025-26 season that started with Stanley Cup aspirations before spiralling down the drain in spectacular fashion.

Toronto, which has a new head coach and general manager following a 28th-place finish, then got a terrific bounce when it won the draft lottery despite entering with odds of just 8.5 per cent.

And while the Maple Leafs were a mess last season, the club still has a talented forward group led by captain and star centre Auston Matthews — selected No. 1 overall inside the same building as Friday's proceedings a decade ago — that's supported by William Nylander, John Tavares and Matthew Knies.

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