The Toronto Maple Leafs have selected Gavin McKenna with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. One of the most dynamic playmakers in this draft class, McKenna should give the Maple Leafs an offensive boost immediately.
McKenna just wrapped up his freshman season at Penn State, and the transition from junior hockey to the collegiate level wasn’t a smooth one initially. However, after a slow start, McKenna found his groove and finished the season with 15 goals and 36 assists 35 games. His 51 points ranked third in the Big Ten, and McKenna led the Nittany Lions to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Minnesota-Duluth in the first round.
Prior to his career at Penn State, McKenna posted gaudy numbers with the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL. In 2024-25, McKenna tallied 41 goals and 88 points in 56 games while helping the Tigers capture a WHL title. McKenna and Medicine Hat fell just shy of a Memorial Cup title, losing to the London Knights in the championship game.
It might be a bit much to ask McKenna to ride shotgun alongside Auston Matthews right out of the gate, but he has the skill to make an instant impact. Can McKenna land among the best No. 1 picks of this century? If he can, that would be a huge boost to a Toronto offense that finished in the middle of the league last year.
Midway through the first round, the St. Louis Blues flipped two of their first-round picks (No. 15 and No. 29) for Mason McTavish in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks. McTavish, the No. 3 pick in the 2021 draft, underwhelmed last season. Armed with four first-round selections in this draft, the Blues are making a low-risk bet on a bounce-back.
Here are the first-round results, as well as some big-picture takeaways from the night:
Complete first-round results
1. Toronto Maple Leafs — Gavin McKenna (LW, Penn Sate, NCAA)
2. San Jose Sharks — Ivar Stenberg (RW, Frölunda, SweHL)
3. Vancouver Canucks — Caleb Malholtra (C, Brantford, OHL)
4. Buffalo Sabres — Daxon Rudolph (D, Prince Albert, WHL)
5. New York Rangers — Alberts Šmits (D, Jukurit, Liiga)
6. Calgary Flames — Carson Carels (D, Prince George, WHL)
7. Seattle Kraken — Chase Reid (D, Sault Ste. Marie, OHL)
8. Winnipeg Jets — Viggo Björck (C, Djurgården, SweHL)
9. San Jose Sharks — Keaton Verhoeff (D, North Dakota, NCAA)
10. Nashville Predators — Wyatt Cullen (RW, U.S. NDTP, USHL)
11. St. Louis Blues — Tynan Lawrence (C, Boston University, NCAA)
12. New Jersey Devils — Alexander Command (C, Örebero HK, SweHL)
13. New York Islanders — Malte Gustafsson (D, HV71, SweHL)
14. Columbus Blue Jackets — Oscar Hemming (LW, Boston College, NCAA)
15. Anaheim Ducks — Nikita Klepov (RW, Saginaw, OHL)
16. St. Louis Blues — Maddox Dagenais (C, Quebec, QMJHL)
17. Utah Mammoth — Ethan Belchetz (LW, Windsor, OHL)
18. Washington Capitals — Oliver Suvanto (C, Tappara, Finland)
19. Los Angeles Kings — Elton Hermansson (RW, MoDo, Sweden)
20. Buffalo Sabres — Ilia Morozov (C, Miami, NCAA)
21. San Jose Sharks — Ryan Lin (D, Vancouver, WHL)
22. Pittsburgh Penguins — Liam Ruck (RW, Medicine Hat, WHL)
23. Detroit Red Wings — JP Hurlbert (LW, Kamloops, WHL)
24. Vancouver Canucks — Adam Novotný (LW, Peterborough, OHL)
25. Ottawa Senators — Jonas Lagerber Hoen (RW, Leksands, Sweden)
26. Montreal Canadiens — Gleb Pugachyov (RW, Nizhny Novgorod Jr., MHL)
27. Philadelphia Flyers — Maksim Sokolovskii (D, London, OHL)
28. Anaheim Ducks — Marcus Nordmark (LW, Djurgården Jr., Sweden)
29. Vegas Golden Knights — Juho Piiparinen (D, Tappara, Liiga)
30. Calgary Flames — Jack Hextall (C, Youngstown, USHL)
31. Nashville Predators — Tommy Bleyl (D, Moncton, QMJHL)
32. Ottawa Senators — Jaxon Cover (LW, London, OHL)
Chase Reid falls to Kraken
Throughout the pre-draft process, Reid was considered among the top two or three prospects in the 2026 class. Between his size and offensive skillset, Reid has everything an NHL team could want in a modern defenseman. In 38 games with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds last season, Reid notched 18 goals and 30 assists from the blue line.
Despite all that, Reid slipped to No. 7 overall on draft night. Perhaps even more shocking than the slide was the fact that Reid was the fourth defenseman off the board. There wasn’t necessarily a consensus top defender in the draft, but it would be nearly impossible to find anyone who had Reid outside the top three at the position. After pending restricted free agent Jason Robertson reportedly turned down their $120 million contract offer, the Seattle Kraken needed some good news, and they got it when Reid fell into their lap on Friday night.
Sharks keep loading up
After acquiring the No. 9 overall pick in the William Eklund trade, the Sharks entered the night with two top-10 selections. San Jose shopped the No. 9 pick in hopes of adding a player who could help the team immediately, but nothing came to fruition, and that may have been a blessing in disguise.
After taking another dynamic offensive playmaker in Ivar Stenberg at No. 2 overall, the Sharks selected defenseman Keaton Verhoeff with the ninth pick. An enormous presence on the blue line, Verhoeff gives San Jose another blue-chip prospect on defense alongside Sam Dickinson. The Sharks would probably like to find immediate help on defense before the 2026-27 season, but Verhoeff will be able to grow with other young stars like Macklin Celebrini, Willi Smith, Michael Misa and Stenberg.
Then, the night only got better for San Jose as it used the No. 27 overall pick to jump up to No. 21 and grab defenseman Ryan Lin. Depending upon where you looked before the draft, Lin was considered a top-15 pick among some industry professionals. The Sharks prospect pool was already as deep as the Mariana Trench, but it’s even deeper now, and they have the brightest future of any team in the NHL. It may not be long before San Jose is a perennial Cup contender.
Blues bet on McTavish
The Blues entered the first round with four selections, and it would have been shocking if they didn’t trade at least one of them. After reportedly striking out on a deal for Jason Robertson that included three of those picks, St. Louis used two of them to add Mason McTavish from the Ducks. The Blues needed some center help, and they had picks to burn, so that deal made a lot of sense for them.
McTavish was once considered a top prospect in the Ducks organization after the team selected him at No. 3 overall in 2021. However, he’s fallen behind other young stars who were drafted after him, and McTavish will now get a fresh start in St. Louis. McTavish has flashed offensive upside with a 20-goal and 52-point campaign in 2024-25. The issue is that offense fell off last year, and his defense failed to improve. With McTavish on the ice at five-on-five, Anaheim allowed 3.17 xGA/60, which was 25th on the team, per Natural Stat Trick. If Jim Montgomery can get McTavish to play even average defense, this trade will have been worthwhile for the Blues.
