Gavin McKenna is widely expected to be the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, and it’s incumbent upon the Toronto Maple Leafs to make his transition to the NHL as smooth as possible. McKenna will likely be stapled to the first line alongside Auston Matthews as a readymade playmaking winger, while being afforded some time to acclimatize to superior pace and competition. It’s always nice to see some friendly faces, and the Maple Leafs should strongly consider selecting defenceman Jonas Woo from the Medicine Hat Tigers in the latter rounds of the draft, staging a reunion with McKenna.

Woo is coming off a monstrous season with Medicine Hat, where he exploded for 29 goals and 86 points in 56 games, before adding eight goals and 17 points in 13 playoff contests. He’s the type of offensive defenceman the Maple Leafs don’t have in their prospect pool, and it would represent a clever bet on production and upside.

Here’s what Daily Faceoff prospect expert Steven Ellis wrote about Woo on Tuesday:

There are drawbacks to Woo’s profile, as Ellis listed. Woo is an overaged prospect and will need to continue his offensive uptick in the NCAA while being afforded less time to develop than an 18-year-old. Maple Leafs director of amateur scouting Mark Leach told reporters at the NHL Scouting Combine that he prefers size as a differentiator. Toronto did not draft a single player under 6-foot-1 last summer, and it’s possible the Maple Leafs wouldn’t take a second look.

All of these concerns ought to be ignored if Woo is still available by the sixth round. Woo is an undersized defenceman who flies with the puck, can create offence, and it will be compelling to see how he controls the game against better competition in the NCAA. Everyone is searching for the next Lane Hutson, and it would be wildly unfair to compare Woo to Montreal’s star defenceman, but it is an archetype the Maple Leafs desperately need. The latter rounds are all about upside, and Woo’s talent, production, skill set and relationship with McKenna should make him an alluring target on Day 2.

“He’s taken his offensive game to another level,” NHL Central Scouting’s John Williams said via NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was drafted this year, more so than last year. He’s going to Arizona State next season, and he’ll be a good player in college. He’s going to get signed in three or four years anyway at some point, and it looks good when you check out the box scores every night and the player you drafted is leading his team or league in scoring.”

Toronto will get its future face of the franchise with the first overall pick, and McKenna alone will constitute a successful draft. It’s incumbent upon Leach, Judd Brackett, John Chayka and the rest of the Leafs’ braintrust to graduate several ancillary pieces to the NHL in order to support the next core led by McKenna, Matthew Knies and Easton Cowan. Woo could be a dream target to support this mission on June 27.