When the Toronto Maple Leafs won the draft lottery, John Chayka had a pretty good idea who they would be picking first overall. Then Toronto’s new general manager travelled to Whitehorse, Yukon to meet Gavin McKenna and his family and it became obvious.
“You watch a player for a few years and track him and understand what he could mean for a franchise, but when I got a chance to go up to Whitehorse and get to know Gavin and get to know his family, I quickly realized that it’s more than the player,” Chayka said. “I think we’re getting a special person, someone that will fit well within our group, and one day be a leader for this franchise.”
That trip to Yukon removed any doubt that McKenna would be the pick. For Chayka it was a new experience. He walked off the plane at 11 p.m. local time to see the sun still in the sky.
“Never been out that way,” Chayka said. “My wife’s from Timmins [in northern Ontario], so I felt like I had an idea, but I didn’t.”
Chayka spent more than four hours chatting with McKenna and his family about his upbringing. As a father of three, Chayka wanted McKenna’s parents to feel comfortable with him and the Leafs.
“We talked about everything and then we went for a trip up the mountain,” Chayka said. “Gavin drove. I had my eyes closed for most of it (smile) ... With everything going on in the world right now, there’s a few places like that where you can be with nature and enjoy it.”
Chayka was struck by the bond between McKenna and his hometown.
“What I saw was someone that loves his community and someone whose community loves him and I think that’s a big part of who he is,” Chayka said.
“This is the classic Canadian story. Kid out on the ice by himself working on his game. No skills coach, no skating coach, no trainer, just, you know, for the love of the game and I think it’s special.”
McKenna beamed with pride while sitting beside Chayka and Leafs senior executive advisor Mats Sundin at a news conference on Saturday morning. He reflected on the call he received from Chayka right before the draft when he learned for sure he would go No. 1.
“One of, if not the best phone call I’ve ever received,” McKenna said. “Something I’ve worked towards my whole life so, yeah, that phone call was a big relief.”
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After the news conference, McKenna participated in a scrum with reporters and was asked yet again about the pressure in Toronto and about some of the concerns raised by former Leaf Mitch Marner.
“It’s something I haven’t been too scared of,” he said. “I think I’ve kind of learnt how to deal with it from a younger age. This year especially, with the draft and being the first [high-profile] guy to go to college [from the Canadian Hockey League], there was a lot of eyes on me. So it’s something I’ve just kind of learned how to deal with. I think when you’re playing hockey, you kind of just block it out. If you’re staying off social media and stuff like that, it’s a lot easier. But, yeah, like I said, it’s nothing I’m not ready for.”
During a high-stakes season, McKenna showed he can respond to adversity well. He faced criticism for a perceived slow start in the NCAA before finishing second in World Junior scoring (14 points in seven games) and surging down the stretch.
“The sky is the limit,” said new Leafs assistant general manager (of player development) Judd Brackett. “Obviously, the skill and hockey sense speaks for itself, but this year, you see Gavin take the challenge to go play against older players and even have a bit of pushback on him to start the year. To see him recalibrate at a World Junior, go back with that confidence, and continue to score ... I think when you are forecasting your future and if he runs into a bump in the road then I think he is still going to be very opportunistic going forward.”
And if McKenna ever needs additional guidance, Sundin is a great resource. He went first overall to the Quebec Nordiques in the 1989 NHL Draft before spending the bulk of his career in Toronto, where he wore the ‘C’ for the Leafs for 11 seasons.
“The most important message or advice I can give to Gavin is to stay true to himself,” Sundin said. “I think if there’s anything that is different in Toronto than other markets, just the size of the fan base, the interests from the city, and it is the hockey capital of the world. But at the end of the day, it’s a game of hockey, the way Gavin played as a kid.”
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McKenna has already got a pretty good sense of what Leafs Nation is all about. No. 72 McKenna Leafs sweaters started popping up almost immediately after Toronto won the right to pick No. 1.
“As soon as the draft lottery happened the phone was kind of blowing up and they’re just so passionate,” McKenna said. “There’s so many of them.”
McKenna was recognized by Leafs fans while attending a FIFA World Cup game in Toronto in the days before the draft.
“They were all awesome to me and just amazing people,” he said. “And I can’t wait to get really close with that fan base and can’t wait to play in front of them.”
McKenna threw out the first pitch at the Blue Jays game on Saturday afternoon. It was the first Major League Baseball game he’s attended.
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Leafs captain Auston Matthews reached out after McKenna was picked on Friday night.
“He just said, ‘Congrats,’” McKenna revealed. “Looking forward to snapping it around with me I think is what he said. He’s obviously an unbelievable player and great leader. I can’t wait to get to meet all those guys.”
Leafs centre John Tavares, another former first overall pick, also sent a message.
“It was just, ‘Take it all in. You only get to go through it once so just enjoy it with your family,’ and stuff like that,” McKenna said. “And ‘have fun with it.’”
McKenna had “around 60 messages” on his phone after the draft on Friday night, including ones from William Nylander and Max Domi.
Any surprising senders?
“I didn’t really get too many wild ones,” he said. “Patrick Kane texted me. He’s my idol so that’s cool.”
McKenna models his game after Kane, who was the first overall pick in 2007 to the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I don’t know if it was all the YouTube highlights that kind of made me play like him but, yeah, he’s someone I always watched,” McKenna said. “And just how creative he was and how smart he was, someone that’s just ... I don’t know, he kind of rubbed off on me, I guess.”
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After the news conference on Saturday, Chayka and Leafs management got back to work and pulled the trigger on a trade.
The Leafs sent right-shot defenceman Brandon Carlo, who had one year left on his contract, to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a pair of third-round picks in this year’s draft (No. 73 and No. 76 overall).
“It was a tough decision,” Chayka said. “Ultimately, we felt like the value was there for us in terms of future value and opportunity today to kind of restock the cupboards a bit. And for Brandon, I think it was a fresh start. I think that’s important to him. It’s a good fit with St. Louis, and I think it’s a good fit for us to get some fresh blood in the back end.”
Carlo was acquired by the Leafs from the Bruins at the 2025 trade deadline in a much-maligned deal that saw top centre prospect Fraser Minten, a first-round pick (top five protected in 2026) and a fourth-round pick go to Boston.
Carlo contributed on the penalty kill and blocked plenty of shots, but produced just 10 assists in 75 games with the Leafs.
“I’ve talked about kind of changing a little bit of the back end, the way we defend, the way we break out pucks,” said Chayka. “So it’s an opportunity for us. It’s flexibility. It’s also a couple young players that we had some passion for.”
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The Leafs ended up making 10 picks in the 2026 draft, including Kitchener Rangers defenceman Alexander Bilecki in the second round.
“Today we did some things that certainly feel like [they] helped us in the long term,” Chayka said. “They’re long-term bets, and they’ll take time.”
Bilecki just helped the Rangers win a Memorial Cup.
“It is not just the winning,” said Brackett. “It’s the role he played on the team. He played top-four minutes [in a Memorial Cup chase]. He will continue to build off the success that team had. His role will continue to expand with Kitchener. We are really excited about that.”
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Chayka and the Leafs management team will now turn their attention to the start of free agency on Wednesday.
“There’s some players we like,” Chayka said. “There’s some needs we have and we’ll be aggressive, but we’ll also make sure that we’re not doing anything to hurt the future.”
What are the Leafs going to be shopping for?
“It’s depth for the most part,” Chayka said. “I think there’s a few holes that we have, but we’re going to be really focused on the depth early and see if we can round out the roster. And then, again, there’s some bigger swings that we’ll take and look at some things, but ultimately it’s a two-sided marketplace and there’s smart agents out there that are trying to maximize the value for their players as well. We’re going to, like I said, be disciplined in the marketplace and make sure we do our best to make the team as best as possible.”
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The Leafs traded restricted free-agent goalie Samuel Ersson, who was acquired in a recent deal with the Philadelphia Flyers, to the Ottawa Senators on Friday in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2027 draft.
“Just asset management,” Chayka explained. “We talked to his camp about what it looked like, what the fit would be, what the contract could be, and I think ultimately just felt like it was better to acquire the asset.”
With Ersson traded, the Leafs goalie depth chart features Anthony Stolarz, who has never played more than 34 games in a season in the NHL, and Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov, who have combined to play 29 NHL games in total.
So, are the Leafs interested in adding another goalie?
“We’ve got this really interesting goalie pipeline,” Chayka said. “And part of our evaluation is the young guys and what they’ve shown. So I think we’re trying to balance that. Anthony’s been, by our models, a top goalie the last two years. Obviously health and durability has been the question, but we can’t guarantee that it’s going to be different with another goalie that we bring in. That’s always a bit of a question mark. So we’re trying to find some balance in all of that. But it’s a key position and if there’s a chance to make it better, like any position, we’ll do that. But that’s where we’re at today.”
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Leafs 2026 draft class:
1st round, 1st overall - Gavin McKenna, winger from Penn State (NCAA)
2nd round, 60th overall - Alexander Bilecki, defenceman Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
3rd round, 69th overall - Ethan MacKenzie, defenceman Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)
3rd round, 73rd overall - Zach Olsen, winger Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
3rd round, 76th overall - Mans Gudmundsson, defenceman Farjestad (Swedish junior league)
3rd round, 85th overall - Juuso Ainasto, goalie Jokerit (Finnish junior league)
4th round, 114th overall - Patriks Plumins, goalie Zemgale (Latvian league)
5th round, 158th overall - Cooper Williams, centre Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
6th round, 161st overall - Yaroslav Fedoseyev, defenceman Chelyabinsk (MHL, VHL in Russia)
6th round, 169th overall - Brody Pepoy, winger Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
