When your favourite team wins the NHL Draft Lottery, you don’t ask questions; you just take the good fortune and skate away. And after a mostly miserable 2025-26 season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, that’s exactly what the Blue-and-White faithful did when their team hit on an 8.5-per cent chance of moving to the top of the draft board in early May.
Now, though, with the 2026 NHL Draft upon us, the abstract notion of gaining a new franchise player is fast becoming a concrete reality for a very big fanbase and it’s only natural for that to prompt a few queries.
In this case, that game-changer is Gavin McKenna, a much-heralded prospect who is widely expected to become the newest Maple Leaf when general manager John Chayka makes the first-overall selection Friday night.
With that in mind, let’s address some of the most pressing and frequently asked questions Leaf backers might have about this 18-year-old.
For answers, we’ll turn to McKenna himself and a bunch of young men who’ve played with and against him, using numerous conversations from earlier this month at the NHL Scouting Combine.
So, here in the words of teammates, opponents, friends, and the winger himself is an explanation of what the projected top pick’s game is all about and why the Buds would be fortunate to have him.
Q: McKenna is a slightly undersized winger. Who will he remind me of? What’s his game like?
GAVIN MCKENNA: I grew up watching Patrick Kane quite a bit. I was a big hockey nerd when I was young, and I was always watching YouTube highlights of him. I always wanted to be like him. Growing up I was No. 88 [Kane’s number] in all my spring hockey tournaments. I think we’ve got some similarities in our game. I think he’s very creative and a very smart hockey player. I think you can see little details in our games that are similar.
DAXON RUDOLPH, defenceman who faced McKenna in the WHL: He’s very creative and smart with the puck. I’ve heard some people call him a wizard out there.
ETHAN MACKENZIE, defenceman who faced McKenna in the WHL and played with him at the World Junior Championship: He’s so good. It’s impressive when you’re taking him one-on-one and you don’t really know which way he’s going to go or what he’s going to do.
KAYDEN LEMIRE, forward who faced McKenna in the WHL: To be honest, you never know what his next move is.
MACKENZIE: He has a shot on him, so you have to be aware of the shot, but then he’ll show you shot and pull it around you. You have to be on another level trying to stay with him.
MATHIS PRESTON, WHL forward who trained with McKenna in the spring: Just watching how he has the ability to draw guys to him and find his teammates, it feels like he can suck two guys in and find his open guys. He sets a lot of guys up for grade-A chances.
KEATON VERHOEFF, defenceman who faced McKenna in the WHL and played with him at the WJC: What he does with the puck, the way he carries himself out there, it’s pretty incredible. Even sitting there watching him, you kind of find yourself in awe, you [almost become] a bit of a fan watching him on the ice.
Q: McKenna was one of the players who switched from major junior hockey to the NCAA at the start of last year. How did that go?
MCKENNA: In college, the guys are bigger, stronger, faster, and the game itself is just a little different than junior — it’s more straightforward hockey. I found out early on that nothing is going happen easily. I think once I got to world juniors, I kind of got my confidence back and figured out the game a bit more, started working harder off the ice and on the ice and getting in the dirty areas a bit more, and that’s why I started producing more. You kind of learn how to play in that environment and obviously that’s going to carry through to the NHL. To get that experience, figuring out how to play [against bigger competition], has helped me a lot. That’s part of the reason I went to college.
VERHOEFF, who also moved to the NCAA this past season: It’s a different game. You expect it to be tough — like, I thought it was going to be tough — [but] it takes another jump. Just the way games close up, and the way guys find sticks and take passing lanes away, it’s a different style of hockey. Every single guy there is developed, can skate, can hit. Obviously, details get tighter as the levels go up. It was hard. It was fun, though, competing every day in practice and in games. It was super-exciting for myself, and I’m sure for Gavin as well.
MCKENNA: It’s competitive hockey and every shift is a battle. You learn a lot, and I do think it really matures your game. Every game is pretty much like a Game 7. Everyone is rested up for those weekend games.
Q: This guy has been pegged as No. 1 overall for years. So, how did he deal with slipping in the rankings at the beginning of his draft season?
MCKENNA: For me, when you see yourself at the top since a young age, then you start to see the things in the media that you’re falling down [draft rankings], having a bad start to the year, you get pretty fired up. When I started seeing those things, I got sick and tired [of it] and just kind of used it as fuel. I started working harder off the ice and on the ice. When I started doing that, I just became more confident. When you’re putting in the time and effort, you start to feel good about yourself. I think that’s what helped me.
LIAM RUCK, former WHL teammate who trained with McKenna in the spring: That [competitiveness] defines him. He’s a guy who’s not going to let anyone else outwork him. If someone is working as hard as he is, he’s just going to keep pushing that pace.
PRESTON: In the gym, I can definitely see the competitiveness. Even sprints [while warming up], he’s always racing. I think that’s a huge attribute.
Q: Still… five-foot-11 and 170 pounds — should we worry about the size?
MCKENNA, who worked out all spring in Kelowna and impressed at the combine: As soon as my season was done, I didn’t really take a break. My frame is not the biggest, so I just wanted to show I could compete hard out there. I can work hard off the ice. I think that’s a big key to carry through to the next level.
MACKENZIE: You try to take body [when you play him], but even then, he’s pretty solid on his skates, so it’s hard to push him off the puck. He’s not the thickest guy when you stand next to him, but he definitely has some muscle. He’s able to lean on guys and kind of push off them. He plays bigger than his size.
Q: Anybody who’s been talked about as the top pick forever must have some hubris to match the hype, no?
MACKENZIE: He’s such an easy guy to talk to. When you’re being ranked first overall since you were 12, you can probably get an ego on you, but he never has.
MARKUS RUCK, former WHL teammate: He does so many special things, on and off the ice. He was a great leader. Obviously, if you’re that talented and that skilled, you’re kind of allowed to do whatever you want, but he was a team player and bought into everything the team needed. That was a big reason why we won the [2025 WHL] championship [with the Medicine Hat Tigers].
PRESTON: He’s a fun guy to train with. Keeps it light, but he puts his head down and goes to work. That’s contagious for everyone in the gym.
Q: Playing in Toronto isn’t always easy. Is this fella up for it?
MCKENNA: Pressure is a privilege. Earlier in the year I talked with [2023 first-overall pick Connor Bedard] a little bit. I just asked for some advice. We’ve gone through some similar stuff with media, pressure and stuff like that. He’s always a brain I like to go to. Being a Western Canadian boy [Bedard is from B.C., where McKenna moved to from the Yukon roughly five years ago], we both know what it’s like a little bit. He’s helped me, he’s always been open to [sharing] advice. He kind of just tells me to trust the process and stay confident. Some people will always [think] what they think of me and some of it might not be good, so I don’t think it’ll ever go away. But [learning how to respond this year is] something that I’ll carry with me forever. I learned hard work is a key to confidence. I think seeing all that [negative] stuff, it’s good to remember how key hard work is and that’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my career.