The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Penn State’s Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick of the 2026 NHL Draft on Friday night.
McKenna, who hails from Whitehorse, Yukon, was the projected number 1 ahead of the draft, although Ivar Stenberg created some suspense as the hockey world waited to hear the name come out of — checking notes here — Justin Bieber’s mouth in Buffalo. Not only did Bieber announce Toronto’s pick, but McKenna walked up to claim his new team’s jersey to the tune of his song “Yukon.”
Justin Bieber announces Gavin McKenna as first overall pick in 2026 NHL Draft
In 35 games for Penn State last season, McKenna recorded 51 points (15g, 36a) to set Penn State’s single-season record for assists (36), as well as a freshman record for points. He was the school’s first-ever Big Ten scoring title winner, named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and was a Hobey Baker top-10 finalist, and he now becomes the first Nittany Lions player to go first overall in the NHL Draft.
Toronto last picked first overall ten years ago, selecting Auston Matthews in 2016, also in Buffalo.
“It’s pretty cool to think about it being in the same barn,” McKenna said before the draft. “[Matthews] is an unbelievable player. He’s one of the best goal scorers in the league right now, so it’d be pretty amazing to play with a guy like that.”
Matthews, who was not in attendance, congratulated his new teammate via a video message.
Auston Matthews sends Gavin McKenna a video message
“They’ve got a lot of talent in Toronto, so they’ve got a lot of experience, and as a young guy coming into the league, I want to learn as much as I can,” McKenna said after being drafted and asked about his future teammate.
McKenna has long been the projected first-overall pick, though a somewhat rocky start to his NCAA career raised questions about his future. He recorded 16 points through the first half of Penn State’s season and faced intense scrutiny. McKenna himself knew he was not playing up to his potential, as he discussed with Sportnet’s Colby Armstrong.
“I think, once I went to World Juniors, I started just to get my confidence back, and once that happened, I think I kind of figured out the college game, and it just all started clicking together, and obviously I had a better second half,” he said.
McKenna ultimately put up 14 points at the tournament and came back to Pennsylvania with a splash. He recorded 31 more points in the remainder of the regular season, including a record-setting eight-point (1g 7a) game against Ohio State in February.
Before joining the NCAA, McKenna spent nearly three seasons in the WHL with the Medicine Hat Tigers. He found near-instant success in juniors, going first overall in the 2022 WHL draft at just 15 years old and scoring 18 points in a partial 16-game season. The following year saw him named the WHL and CHL’s Rookie of the Year with a 97-point (34, 63a) showing in 61 games. He continued to improve in his final season, recording 129 points with a plus-60 rating to claim the title of CHL and WHL Player of the Year, while leading the Medicine Hat Tigers to the WHL championship.
“[NCAA] challenged me for sure, and that was what I wanted,” he told NHL Network’s Sam Cosentino earlier this week. “I wanted it to prepare me for that next jump and hopefully make it a little bit smoother, and I think it did.
Past the growth and adversity on the ice, the outside pressure McKenna dealt with also prepared him for a professional career — especially in a market like Toronto.
“I knew there were gonna be a lot of eyes on me this year and I was gonna be under the microscope quite a bit, and every game it kinda felt like I had to do something and if I didn’t do something I was gonna hear about it online,” he said during his Sportsnet interview. “I think this year prepared me for what’s coming, potentially playing [in Toronto], and I think I’m ready for it.
“I think it would be super cool, being a Canadian kid and going to the biggest hockey market in the world, I think it’d be pretty special. Obviously, if you aren’t doing well there, you’ll hear about it, but if you win a cup there, then it’s probably one of the best spots to be.”
He doubled down on his excitement about possibly landing in Toronto and his appreciation for the (often difficult) market during his pre-draft media availability. “Toronto has such a passionate fan base. If I do get drafted there, I’d be pumped,” he said Thursday.
McKenna has long been a top prospect, with his talent first noticed at age 8. His entire family played hockey, and he grew up with a rink in his backyard and dreams of getting drafted to the NHL.
“He would fall asleep with a helmet on, his hockey gloves, puck beside him,” his mom said on his episode of Welcome to the NHL. “He’d be in a high chair, stick in one hand, hockey glove in the other, eating dinner.
“He was just hockey obsessed.”
He left home at just 12 years old to further his hockey career, moving to Kelowna to train under former NHLer Bryon Ritchie at the RINK hockey academy and to play in spring tournaments under Billy Coupland, who has also coached former first-overall picks Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini.
McKenna is just the second ever first-round pick from the Yukon, joining 2019 pick Dylan Cozens, and is also a member of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation. His grandfather, Joe Mason, survived Canada’s residential school system, telling McKenna stories he keeps in mind when facing adversity of his own. McKenna has looked to give back to his community for the support they’ve offered him, naming his First Nation’s 2022 Role Model of the Year award as one of his proudest accomplishments.
“Growing up, I had to travel pretty much every weekend to find some competition, so it wasn’t cheap flying every weekend, so the community helped support me. I had some sponsors throughout the community, and I get texts from people all the time saying how proud they are of me,” McKenna said Thursday. “I just want to represent the Yukon well.
“I have a lot of young fans from that place, and whenever I get the chance to go home and be with those kids, see the smiles they have, it means a lot to me, and I just carry that pride with me.”
McKenna and his family carried their heritage with them to the draft in Buffalo. He wore two pins on his draft suit beaded by one of his sisters, while some of his family sported native vests.
After hearing his name called on the draft stage- an accomplishment he’s worked towards since he started skating at just two years old — he’ll have to take all the lessons he’s learned and apply them to the biggest challenge at hand.
“This is a dream come true, honestly. If I were a kid, telling myself I’d be here and have all these people talking about me, I’d be pumped up. Pretty grateful for what I’ve got going on right now,” he said.
