As of Friday, June 26th, Gavin McKenna is officially a Toronto Maple Leaf, putting to bed any speculation that the Leafs might go off the board with their unprecedented first overall pick at the draft.

McKenna, long touted as the consensus number one pick in the 2026 draft class, received a call from Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka seconds before the team put their pick in and informed him he would be joining the organization. Immediately afterwards, Canadian pop star and diehard Leafs fan Justin Bieber made the selection on behalf of the Maple Leafs, followed by a video message from Auston Matthews welcoming McKenna to the organization.

Speaking to reporters after Day 1 of the draft, McKenna was glowing as he recounted the feeling of getting taken first overall.

“One of, if not the best phone call I’ve ever received,” McKenna told media on Saturday morning after being drafted. “Just a special moment when you hear that and you realize you’re going first. It’s a pretty special moment and something I’ve worked towards for my whole life, so that phone call was a big relief.”

Chayka spoke about his trip to Whitehorse in the weeks following the Maple Leafs’ draft lottery win and raved about McKenna the human as much if not more than McKenna the player. It was made clear that the Leafs were thrilled to bring him into the organization for more reasons than his production at Penn State.

“I wanted to see firsthand his upbringing and what hockey meant him as a person,” Chayka said. “What I saw was somebody that loves his community, someone whose community loves him, and I think that’s a big part of who he is. I think we’re lucky now, as the Toronto Maple Leafs, to be part of that.”

McKenna spoke about the immediate hours following the draft, which included a quick hangout with family before packing a bag and heading to Toronto to hang out with a friend. His excitement to join the biggest hockey market in the league was on display on Friday night and it carried into Saturday morning.

“Toronto as a city is an amazing place,” McKenna said. “They love their sports, they love their hockey team, they’ve got so many passionate fans. So, I’m excited, and even when I was in the city before I was drafted, people were coming up to me and asking me for photos. They all seem like great people, so I’m excited to meet all these people and just get comfortable in the city.”

The first overall pick was a generational turn of events for a success-starved market that just missed the playoffs for the first time in ten years since the last time they picked first overall. Adding McKenna is a boost that the entire Toronto hockey circuit is thrilled about, and Chayka sees a player with a story and background that the fans will immediately fall in love with.

“For me, he’s someone’s who’s story kind of defines him. This is the classic Canadian story. Kid out on the ice by himself, working on his game, no skills coach, no skating coach, no trainer. Just the love of the game, and I think it’s special.”

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