With the First Overall Pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, the Maple Leafs Select Gavin McKenna

Vitals

McKenna is 5'11" and 170 lbs as of the Combine, and is a left-shooting winger who has played left wing as a junior.

His birthday is in December, so he will turn 19 during this coming season.

History

I will lift directly from a previously published article here:

MeKenna is from Whitehorse, Yukon which inevitably means that he left home very young to play competitive hockey in the south. He started out in the local system, but he shows up on a team in Kelowna, BC in 2020, however that season was cancelled. He was 13 at the time. McKenna got to play the next season for Rink Hockey Academy Kelowna U18 Prep and his ties to Kelowna remain, as that's where he does offseason training.

McKenna's time in Kelowna was spent billeting with the team's skills coach Byron Ritchie. Ritchie is also McKenna's family advisor as he works in player development for CAA under head of hockey Pat Brisson. Family advisor is the term of art for a player's agent before they are allowed to have an agent. CAA's Matt Williams has been acting for him in public lately. In other words, he was so good at that age that his final destination as an NHLer was never in doubt and he was already under the wing of a top agency.

In the next season beginning in 2022, McKenna changed to SAHA U18 Prep in the same league. This school is right outside Medicine Hat, or Med Hat, as I've heard McKenna call it in an interview. He had been drafted by the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL first overall in 2022. He played 26 games at SAHA, led the team in points by 29 over his next closest teammate and also played 16 games for the Tigers and four playoff games. He was over a point per game in his WHL regular season debut after just turning 16. I assume he would have played the whole season with the Tigers if the WHL had granted him exceptional status.

He spent two more years with the Tigers, dominating in points to the point you'd start to worry this was all too easy for him. Medicine Hat won the WHL championship last year, and if you watched the Memorial Cup for Easton Cowan, you know that the Tigers beat the London Knights in the round robin, but not when it counted most.

McKenna faced a choice as the opportunity to play in the NCAA opened up for Canadian junior players: He could stay with the Tigers or in the WHL if they weren't contending again, or he could move to the NCAA and play what many think is a harder level of hockey. He went south again to face the challenge, and not incidentally collect some serious money.

McKenna chose Penn State and played the full season that started before he turned 18. He led his team in points, with an emphasis on assists. Six of his teammates have now already been drafted or signed by NHL teams, most of them late round picks except Jackson Smith, who went 14th overall last year. What separates McKenna from them cannot be seen in points. Points tell you he played a lot with good teammates, likely on the power play and he has offensive talent to some degree. The rest is a blank page to write a story on.

It is more meaningful that McKenna was doing this at 17/18 than it is that he scored what he scored. Smith is only six months older, and they were the only regulars that young.

In a sign a little reminiscent of Auston Matthews' trajectory, McKenna was seriously offered a spot on Team Canada for Men's Worlds this year. He has said he decided to stay focused on the Combine in an interview held at the Draft Lottery as his reason for not playing.

Since the Combine, and the attention on McKenna, we've all had a chance to learn more about his indigenous family.

They’re preparing for a party at the Äłät Nëhëjël community hall in Dawson City in Canada’s Yukon.

Proud members of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation and others plan to pack the hall in anticipation of Penn State forward Gavin McKenna being chosen in the first round of the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft that begins on Friday.

The partygoers won’t have long to wait. McKenna, who proudly displays his Indigenous roots on his right arm, could be the No. 1 pick in the draft after being on top of NHL Central Scouting’s ranking of North American skaters.

“I think this is special because from interviews and stuff I’ve seen of Gavin McKenna, he’s very proud of being ‘TH’ (Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in),” said Alysha Van Bibber, who is helping to organize the watch party and designed a special temporary tattoo for attendees to wear. “I think it would be nice to be able to celebrate him and reflect that back.”

McKenna is among at least 15 players of color who’ll be waiting to hear their names called at the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft on Friday and Saturday at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

Scouting Reports

The Pro Hockey Group, available at PuckPedia can stand in as a summing up of the general opinion on McKenna:

Check out his player card for a the shocking revelation he has no PK skills.

They project him as an elite or franchise player. For some opinion closer to home, Brian's article contains the word elite 20 times, and is a comprehensive look at McKenna:

So the big debate around McKenna all season has been that tension between his obvious skill and the concern about his lack of pro habits and how that could hurt his projection. For all that elite processing, play making, skill, transitions, and all that great stuff, there was a question of whether or not it would still be elite once he got to the NHL, considering those flaws I mentioned. And if you're worried about that, would you really want to take him first overall? Wouldn't you want more of a sure thing?

Well, there's two issues with that. First, that's just the nature of the top of this year's draft. He may have his flaws, but so does Stenberg or anyone else you may have seen talk about being a potential first overall prospect in their place. Second, McKenna really did work hard and showed an improved level of defensive engagement, commitment to not being such a perimeter player, etc. He has transitioned from a player who occasionally cheated for offense like he still carried an infection from junior hockey, to one who actively gets back hard on the backcheck and use his procession and hands to be disruptive.

Back in January, while his points were disappointing some observers, NHL Central Scouting named him their number one in North America:

"Gavin McKenna is an elite talent with exceptional hockey sense, quickness and maturity which has allowed him to dictate the play and influence games at every level he's played," said Dan Marr, director of NHL Central Scouting. "He possesses a combination of unteachable skills and attributes which have been on record-setting display the last couple seasons and place him in a category of his own as the top prospect for the 2026 NHL Draft.

"He was the consensus number one for midseason and belongs in that special player category. The projection is not based on when he plays in the NHL, rather, once he gets established in the NHL."

Justin Bourne talked about McKenna from the perspective of why he'd fit in Toronto, not just as a BPA:

McKenna can control a power play from the flank with his elite vision and passing, all but guaranteeing that over the next handful of years, the Leafs don’t get on the wrong side of “league average” with the man advantage.

You could make the case that Vegas has three of the league’s highest “hockey IQ” forwards in Marner, Jack Eichel, and Mark Stone. These guys see it, don’t make glaring “whoopsie” plays very often, and know when it’s time to retreat, know when it’s time to go. Funny how that turns into wins.

Gavin McKenna’s number one positive attribute is his hockey IQ – he’s the smartest hockey player in the draft. He controls the pace of play, sees all 10 skaters on the ice, and finds seams to create chances for his teammates.

The video below, if you haven't seen it, is an excellent breakdown of how McKenna plays, what all this talk of IQ and vision really means, and left me believing that he's not just a fit for the Leafs, the Leafs, as imperfect as they are right now, are a fit for him. Not something that every first overall can count on.