Gavin McKenna talks about joining the Toronto Maple Leafs

Few hockey prospects in recent memory have generated as much buzz as Gavin McKenna. The Whitehorse, Yukon native has been on NHL scouts’ radar for years, and heading into the 2026 NHL Draft, he is widely viewed as the favorite to go first overall.

Of course, that first overall pick just happens to belong to the Toronto Maple Leafs thanks to some very fortunate luck at the NHL Draft Lottery earlier this month. All signs point to the Leafs drafting McKenna next month, but the team and the player have been notably silent on that potentiality. Last night though, McKenna broke the ice.

TSN analyst Jeff O'Neill point blanked asked McKenna what it would be like to be drafted 1st overall to Toronto. The young blue chipper replied that he would be honoured.

Check it out:

I mean... what else is the kid supposed to say?

The kid is a professional through and through, even if he's still just a teenager.

McKenna’s rise began long before he reached major junior hockey. He was selected first overall by the Medicine Hat Tigers in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft and almost immediately justified the hype. Even as a 15-year-old, he showed elite offensive instincts, high-end skating, and the kind of hockey IQ that separates great players from merely talented ones. His combination of vision and creativity quickly drew comparisons to stars like Patrick Kane and Nikita Kucherov.

By his rookie WHL season, McKenna had become one of the most productive young players in Canadian Hockey League history. He followed up a 97-point rookie campaign with a dominant 2024-25 season in which he recorded 129 points in only 56 games for Medicine Hat while helping lead the Tigers deep into the playoffs. He was named CHL Player of the Year and WHL Player of the Year, joining elite company that includes players such as Sidney Crosby and John Tavares.

Scouts rave about McKenna’s offensive toolkit. He can control the pace of a game, attack defenders one-on-one, and create scoring chances from almost anywhere in the offensive zone. NHL Central Scouting described him as being in a “special category” of prospect, while many evaluators have openly labeled him a “generational” talent.

McKenna also excelled internationally, starring for Canada at both the U18 level and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. His ability to dominate against elite peers only strengthened the belief that he could become a franchise-changing NHL superstar.

After his WHL dominance, McKenna made the high-profile decision to continue his development at Penn State University, taking advantage of changing NCAA eligibility rules. The move placed him against older, stronger competition, and by most accounts he adapted extremely well.

As for the 2026 NHL Draft, McKenna remains the clear frontrunner to hear his name called first overall. While prospects like Ivar Stenberg and Keaton Verhoeff have gained traction in scouting circles, most rankings still place McKenna at the top because of his elite offensive ceiling and game-breaking ability.

There have been a few bumps along the way, including off-ice controversy during his freshman NCAA season, but NHL teams generally still appear convinced that his talent level is too extraordinary to pass up.

At this point, anything other than McKenna going first overall in 2026 would be considered a major surprise. He has spent years carrying the label of hockey’s next superstar prospect, and so far, he has done nothing but live up to it.