TORONTO — Last time we attended a hockey game in Toronto, we spotted a fan wearing a white T-shirt emblazoned with an enlarged screen grab of Mats Sundin’s Cheshire grin — that insta-iconic image Leafs Nation now associates with their stunning 2026 NHL Draft Lottery victory. The magic 12 ball.
The time before that, we saw a Maple Leafs fan in the lower bowl of Scotiabank Arena proudly sporting a Blue-and-White No. 72 sweater. And this is when the local team was spiraling down the toilet.
Hope is back, in a big way.
A new coach. A new plan.
A new GM, one aggressively pulling the trigger on trades.
A shiny new defenceman with a cannon from the point.
And, most encouraging of all, a teenage phenom to lead the next wave.
“The probability is we take the pick, just realistically,” GM John Chayka says of Friday’s Number 1 slot. “We have had discussions (about trading it); we’ll continue to have discussions. Obviously, everything’s for sale at the right price. To date, there’s nothing compelling that we’re seriously considering. But there’s still time.”
Chayka and Sundin believe there is still time to rejig and reset 2025-26’s most disappointing roster around cornerstones Auston Matthews and Willaim Nylander, and they will be aggressive in doing so.
Armed with four picks in the draft’s first three rounds, including the best one of all, and determined to deal, Chayka’s Leafs won’t look the same shuffling out of Buffalo as they do heading in.
Buckle up for a big weekend in the Nation.
Potential Round 1 options
Gavin McKenna, LW, 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, Penn Sate
It’s gotta be the kid from Whitehorse, doesn’t it? The Canadian playmaker with the highest offensive ceiling. The winger who instantly becomes a candidate to slide onto PP1 and Matthews’ top line and begin to replace some of what was lost when Mitch Marner walked. The guy who recently posted a photo reel on Instagram to the sounds of Toronto icon Drake’s “Shabang.”
“The brain and the talent is evident. Just the instincts and his raw ability, I think, are interesting,” Chayka says. “And the quality of the family, the quality of the people, how much family means to him. His roots, how important it is for him to give back to his community that’s given him so much. Those are all really interesting things.”
Interest is mutual. McKenna tested off the charts at last month’s NHL Combine, where he told reporters it would be an honour to wear the Maple Leaf.
“Going to a Canadian market would be pretty special. The situation the Leafs are in right now, it’s pretty crazy they got the first-overall pick,” McKenna said. “Their team is probably going to be fighting for the playoffs next year. I’d be pretty fortunate to go there.”
Ivar Stenberg, LW, 5-foot-11, 183 pounds, Frolunda
Sundin kept a close eye on the impressive, two-way Swedish winger at the world championships, and most prospect experts agree that Stenberg is more defensively responsible and NHL-ready today than the more creative McKenna. He’s already playing pro.
Our Jason Bukula — about as dialed-in a scout you’ll find — still has the sturdy gold-medal-winning world junior star ranked No. 1, ahead of McKenna.
“He’s a smart, competitive player. He had an amazing worlds,” says Chayka, who interviewed Stenberg at the Combine. “Real high-quality person, high-quality player. Really fond of him.”
Keaton Verhoeff, RD, 6-foot-4, 208 pounds, North Dakota
We’re looking a trade-down scenario here, which feels like a long shot. But the Maple Leafs love the maturity of Verhoeff’s game — and his size.
Toronto was one of 18 teams that met with the six-foot-four, 215-pound, right-shot defenceman in advance of Friday’s draft.
“It was cool seeing them and meeting them,” Verhoeff says. “The type of organization they have, and all the history they have, it was cool to get in the meeting room with them and talk.”
For a late second-round draft choice, Koblar took some promising strides in 2025-26. The Maple Leafs might have one here.
The son of two national-team athletes jumped from Leksands IF’s junior club to its Swedish League pro squad and put up 14 points in his first 47 games against grownups. Not bad for an 18-year-old.
But it was Koblar’s performance in May’s world championships that really turned heads.
The six-foot-three, 194-pound forward erupted with five goals and five assists in five games, helping power Norway to a bronze medal victory over Canada, the country’s best-ever result in the tournament.
Naturally, Koblar signed his entry-level contract with the Leafs shortly thereafter.
“These are the types of picks that are super helpful as you’re building out an organization. I think the team did a great job getting him where they got them,” Chayka says.
“Very smart player. Showed very well at the world championships. Very good prospect. I think the development staff is doing a really good job working with him, rounding out his game. But certainly a guy we think has lots of upside.”
One bold prediction: Trades, trades, trades.
Chayka is not content with shedding only Joseph Woll and Simon Benoit. He is determined to remodel his blue line and has also been linked to pending UFA goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and the St. Louis Blues’ Jordan Binnington.
Don’t be surprised to see multiple transactions involving Toronto this week.
Morgan Rielly is starting with a list of four Western Conference destinations he’d consider moving to. There will be conversations around Jake McCabe and Brandon Carlo and possibly Oliver Ekman-Larsson as well.
Half the Leafs blue line could be overturned as Chayka seeks youth and mobility.