Gavin McKenna said he would be thrilled if he heard his name called when the Toronto Maple Leafs make their selection with the first overall pick at next month’s NHL Entry Draft.

Since the Leafs won the draft lottery, a furious debate has ensued as to who they will choose to add to their roster which already possesses the likes of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares. Although the consensus among scouts is that McKenna will be the player that the Leafs end up choosing, the jury remains out that he is the best player available as Ivar Stenberg is making a case with his performance at the World Championships.

McKenna made an appearance on TSN during the first intermission of the preliminary match between the Kelowna Rockets and Everett Silvertips, and he was asked if he thought about the idea of putting on a Leafs jersey at the draft.

While McKenna could have easily opted to remain with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers and dominate, he opted to challenge himself by moving to Penn State and playing at the college ranks. His draft year was far from smooth sailing, but he feels making the move was the right decision as he experienced a lot of growth and changes in transitioning to the next phase of his career.

McKenna felt college hockey was far different from what he had experienced, with heavier and faster players that have a higher defensive acumen compared to the skill and openness of the WHL. While he acknowledged that it took him a bit to get used to the style of play, he felt he got better as the season rolled on.

“ I thought after World Juniors, I just got my confidence back and kind of adjusted to the league a little bit.  Our team was dealing with some injuries to start the year, and I was playing with new line mates almost every weekend, so it was kind of hard to get in a groove there,” he said. “ I think after Christmas time, I was feeling confident and it was fun. I think obviously it didn’t end the way we wanted it to end pretty early on there, but it was a fun ride with Penn State and I’ll remember that place forever.”

He went on to say that the biggest challenge he had was adjusting to being heavier on sticks to get the puck back, which gave McKenna a sneak peek of what he would be dealing with in the NHL. He spent an extensive amount of time in the gym bulking up and continues to do so in anticipation of the Draft Combine instead of playing for Canada at the World Hockey Championships.

It is clear that McKenna is eager to make the jump to the next level and will most likely be on an NHL team to start the 2026-27 season. While he knows that nothing is a guarantee as far as where exactly he will end up, he knows what he can bring to the table to whichever team decides to pick him.