NHL scouts, executives project Maple Leafs will target Gavin McKenna at first overall
One month out from the 2026 NHL Draft, speculation continues to run rampant about who the
Toronto Maple Leafs will select first overall.
On Monday,
The Athletic‘s Corey Pronman published a survey of six NHL scouts and executives, getting their predictions on how the top 10 of this year’s NHL draft will shake out. While it seems the jury is out on whether Gavin McKenna is the best player available, all six scouts and executives agreed the Leafs will target the 18-year-old forward at first overall:
While predicting McKenna to go first feels like a foregone conclusion, the industry isn’t completely sold that he’s the undisputed best player in the class. Of the evaluators I polled, three of the six didn’t have McKenna at No. 1 on their personal list, and more than one didn’t have him in their top two, even if every single one of them projects Toronto to take him. One evaluator preferred Ivar Stenberg, one had Caleb Malhotra and one said he was split between defencemen Chase Reid and Alberts Smits. The rationale for a lot of the voters is simply that McKenna fits at No. 1 as a player, and with his pedigree, it would be highly controversial for Toronto not to take him.
At this point, it does seem like the near unanimous assessment is that the
Maple Leafs will target McKenna, as shown by
a recent compilation of mock drafts from NHL experts. Whether or not he’s the best player available is up for debate, and is sure to be a conversation for many years to come as these players make their way to the NHL.
McKenna had 15 goals and 51 points in 35 games with Penn State this season. The year prior, he put up a massive 129 points in 56 games in his final year with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.
The other top candidate for the Leafs is considered to be Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg. Given
Mats Sundin’s new senior role in Toronto’s front office, it’s not hard to imagine they’ll give Stenberg a close look. The 18-year-old is coming off his second season in the Swedish Hockey League, tallying 33 points in 43 games.
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