After nearly two months of speculation, of hand-wringing and prognosticating, the Toronto Maple Leafs made it official Friday night: with the first-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the club selected Canadian winger Gavin McKenna, ushering in a new era for the blue-and-white.
It’s a banner moment for the 18-year-old, who’s seemed destined to hear his name called first on this Draft stage for the past half-decade. After a rollercoaster campaign in the college hockey ranks, some questions around whether another young talent might have surpassed him as this draft class’s best, McKenna will head to Toronto as the 2026 Draft’s top dog.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Maple Leafs’ draft picks:
First Overall: Gavin McKenna
2025-26 Team: Penn State, NCAA
Stat Line: 15G-36A-51PTS in 35 games
What you need to know about the player:
Like the last offensive dynamo drafted first overall by the Maple Leafs, McKenna’s path to the big leagues has been somewhat unconventional. But since leaving his hometown of Whitehorse, Yukon, for the RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna, B.C., McKenna has seemed to be Canadian hockey’s heir apparent.
The winger’s all-world vision allowed him to dominate every level as he came up through the ranks — he stacked 65 points in 35 games at the RINK academy, 75 points in 26 games during his time at the South Alberta Hockey Academy, before bulldozing his way through the Western Hockey League with the Medicine Hat Tigers. Debuting as a 14-year-old, McKenna wasted little time proving he could hang in the WHL, collecting four points in his regular-season debut with the Tigers.
By the time he left the club, he’d amassed 244 points in 133 games, led Medicine Hat to a championship, and became the third-youngest prospect to be named CHL Player of the Year. The other two? Sidney Crosby, and McKenna’s new Maple Leafs teammate, John Tavares.
Then came the plot twist. In November 2024, the NCAA Division I Council ruled that CHL players were eligible to join the college hockey ranks. The recruitment frenzy began. McKenna chose Penn State.
The transition wasn’t easy — the jump to a league filled with older, stronger players briefly humbled the young winger. He started quietly, saw his game critiqued more than it had ever been. McKenna posted a respectable — though perhaps pedestrian, by his standards — 16 points through his first 16 games.
But over the latter half of his freshman campaign, the teenager found his dominant touch once again. The final 16 games of his season saw him put up 31 points, including an eight-point night against Ohio State in February that ranked as the highest single-game total seen in NCAA Division I hockey in nearly four decades.
The result of the NCAA rollercoaster in the end: a first-overall selection, and a ticket to Toronto.
SECOND ROUND
60th Overall: D Alexander Bilecki
2025-26 Team: Kitchener Rangers, OHL
Stat Line: 9G-20A-29PTS in 66 games
The Mississauga, Ont. native won an OHL title and Memorial Cup with the Rangers in his sophomore major-junior season.
THIRD ROUND
69th Overall: D Ethan MacKenzie
2025-26 Team: Edmonton Oil Kings, WHL
Stat Line: 22G-36A-58PTS in 59 games
After not being taken in the past two drafts, MacKenzie broke out in a big way this season. He earned a spot on Canada's world junior team and will start playing NCAA hockey at powerhouse North Dakota next season.
73rd Overall: RW Zach Olsen
2025-26 Team: Saskatoon Blades, WHL
Stat Line: 18G-16A-34PTS in 57 games
Olsen switched from centre to right wing this season with good results. Blades head coach Dan DaSilva sees elements of Tom Wilson's gritty game in Olsen. The six-foot-one forward played for Canada at the world under-18 championship this year.
76th Overall: D Måns Gudmundsson
2025-26 Team: Färjestad BK, Swedish junior
Stat Line: 1G-24A-25PTS in 35 games
The six-foot-two blue-liner got lots of power-play time for his team. He continued a trend of teams going to Sweden in this draft.
85th Overall: G Juuso Ainasto
2025-26 Team: Jokerit, Finnish junior
Stat Line: 8-3-0, 1.74 GAA, .938 save% in U18; 6-7-0, 3.28 GAA, .892 save percentage in U20
The six-foot-four goaltender was used with the selection acquired in the Joseph Woll trade with the Philadelphia Flyers.
FOURTH ROUND
114th Overall: G Patriks Plumins
2025-26 Team: Zemgale, Latvian league
Stat Line: 1.50 GAA, .947 save% in 16 games
The Leafs go with a second goaltender in a row. Plumnis stands six-foot-three. He was outstanding at the world under-18 championship this year, helping Latvia stun the U.S. in the knockout round.
FIFTH ROUND
158th Overall: C Cooper Williams
2025-26 Team: Saskatoon Blades, WHL
Stat Line: 23G-34A-57PTS in 35 games
The Leafs make a second pick from the Blades as well as a second North Dakota commit. The six-foot-one Williams played for Canada's under-18 team at last year's Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
SIXTH ROUND
161st Overall: D Yaroslav Fedoseyev
2025-26 Team: Chelyabinsk in Russian MHL and VHL
Stat Line: 3G-16A-19PTS in 49 games
The Leafs dealt a 2027 pick to the Canucks to acquire the pick to take the six-foot-one Fedoseyev. He is expected to play in the KHL next year.
169th Overall: RW Brody Pepoy
2025-26 Team: Saginaw Spirit, OHL
Stat Line: 16G-13A-29PTS in 67 games
The American winger played a checking role in his first year in the OHL. He previously played for a Pittsburgh under-16 team.
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