Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – There was a lot of attention last week on Gavin McKenna at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo. McKenna is thought to be, by many, the No. 1 prospect available in the 2026 NHL Draft, and the likely first overall pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The new general manager of the Leafs is John Chayka. He went to McKenna's home in Whitehorse, which is in the Yukon Territory.
“It was an honor for him to come up there. Anytime he's taking the time out of his summer to come meet with you, it was awesome. And it was good to meet with him and get a feel for him and to meet my family,” said McKenna while in Buffalo last week.
After three seasons in the Western Hockey League playing for the Medicine Hat Tigers, McKenna decided to play college hockey for Penn State University as a Freshman. With the Nittany Lions, McKenna scored 15 goals and added 36 assists for 51 points in 35 games.
To give you a point of reference, Jack Eichel played just his Freshman season as college too and had 26 goals and 45 assist for 71 points in 40 games at Boston University. Eichel didn't play in the Canadian Hockey League, though, as he was with the U.S. National Team Development Program before jumping to the collegiate ranks.
Macklin Celebrini also played just his Freshman season at BU and scored 32 goals and 32 assists for 64 points in 38 games.
In McKenna's last season in the WHL, he had 41 goals and 88 assists for 129 points in 56 games. McKenna is glad he went for that one season of college hockey.
“It was a good season," McKenna recalled. "In college, the guys are bigger and stronger and faster, and the game itself is just a little different than in junior, because it's more straight forward hockey. So I found out early on that things just weren't going to happen easy. And once I got to World Juniors (Canada), I got my confidence back and figured out the game a little bit more, and started working hard off the ice and on the ice, and getting to the dirty areas a little bit more. That's why I started producing more.”
It's an honor for any player to be selected first overall in the NHL Draft, but for a Canadian boy to be taken by the Leafs, McKenna says that's very special.
“It would be an honor," he said. "As a kid, that's what you dream of. So if that was the case, I'd be pretty pumped. And being a Canadian kid, going to a Canadian market would be pretty special.
“I think the situation the Leafs are in right now, it's pretty crazy they got the first overall pick. Their team is probably going to be fighting for the playoffs next year, so I'd be pretty fortunate to go there.”
Celebrini was the first overall pick of the San Jose Sharks in the 2024 NHL Draft, and has becomes a superstar in the NHL in just two seasons. If, for some reason, Toronto takes a pass on McKenna, it would be very surprising for Sharks general manager Mike Grier not to take him.
If that were to happen, McKenna would love to be alongside such a player like Celebrini.
“He's a special talent, and one of those players whose generational," McKenna said. "If we got an opportunity to play beside him, we'd be honored.”
Connor Bedard was taken first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2023 Draft. Bedard knows the pressure McKenna is under, and McKenna says he appreciated talking with Bedard.
“Earlier in the year, I talked with Connor a little bit and just asked for some advice," he acknowledged. "We've gone through some similar things like media and the pressure, and so he's always a brain I like to go to. Being a Western Canadian boy, I think we both know what it's like a little bit, and he's always been open to advice. He just tells me to trust the process and to just stay confident,. I think hockey is a big confidence game, and when guys are confident, that's when they're at their best.”
The first round of the 2026 NHL Draft is Friday, June 26 in Buffalo. The players will be down at the arena, while the Sabres will be in Orchard Park for a second-straight year after the Buffalo Bills, once again, offered their state-of-the-art draft room to the hockey team.
