.jpg)
1 hour ago
3
Gavin McKenna has been viewed as the favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft for years.
He starred in the Western Hockey League for the Medicine Hat Tigers, and then he shone brightly in the college ranks at the NCAA level for Penn State.
Now, the draft is nearly here, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are the team that won the top pick in the lottery.
It's about this time that everyone starts to wonder whether McKenna is really right, or whether everyone has just left him atop the board because he's been there for so long.
MORE: Max Domi's surgery had something go 'terribly wrong'
Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis sees both sides of the coin, but in his most recent mock draft, he still has McKenna atop the board.
"I get the reasons to pass on McKenna – is his B game good enough? But his A game is something no team will want to pass up," Ellis writes.
Ellis then delves deeper into McKenna's game, and he gives him a couple of impressive comparisons.
"He has some of the best hands from a prospect we’ve seen in years and processes the game at such a high level," Ellis writes. "He’ll be perfect in a top-line role for years to come. I’m not worried about him being a smaller forward, either – his build is very similar to that of both Patrick Kane and Nikita Kucherov when they first broke into the league. McKenna can handle the pressure, too – he’s been in the spotlight for half a decade."
MORE: Canucks make Gavin McKenna decision that Maple Leafs, Sharks don't make
The Maple Leafs want a quick bounceback, yes, but they also can't afford to pass up the best player available.
Yes, there are cases to be made for other guys, but it's hard to actually leapfrog McKenna here.
Toronto could still surprise, but most analysts still seem to think that McKenna will end up being the first player taken.
English (US)