‘Dream come true’: Maple Leafs take Gavin McKenna 1st overall in NHL Draft

Gavin McKenna locked eyes with Justin Bieber. The Canadian music icon made it official moments later.

The Toronto Maple Leafs made McKenna — with a little help from one of his favourite artists — the No. 1 pick at the 2026 NHL draft Friday.

Fans sporting blue and white jerseys roared with approval as the 18-year-old winger from Whitehorse climbed the stairs to the sound of Bieber’s hit song “Yukon” at KeyBank Arena.

“Special moment,” said McKenna, who got a call from general manager John Chayka shortly before his name was announced. “This is my dream come true, to hug my family and walk up on the stage, see Justin Bieber. This is what I imagined when I was a young kid. 

“It’s so much better.”

Before announcing the pick, Bieber had a quiet word on stage with commissioner Gary Bettman before returning to the mic.

“Mr. McKenna,” he said. “We would like to draft you to the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

The team’s newest member said Bieber, who’s a big supporter of the team, glanced his way as he walked through the couches set up for players and their entourages on the rink’s floor.

“I’m a huge Justin Bieber fan,” McKenna said. “Playing his song for my walk-up was a pretty cool moment. 

“Just crazy what’s going on right now.”

McKenna is coming off a freshman season at Penn State where he put up 15 goals and 36 assists for 51 points across 35 NCAA games following a pair of dominant campaigns with the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers.

He joins an Original Six franchise coming off a disastrous 2025-26 that started with Stanley Cup aspirations before spiralling down the drain in spectacular fashion.

Toronto, which has a new head coach and GM following a 28th-place finish, then got a terrific bounce when it won the draft lottery despite entering with odds of just 8.5 per cent.

“Gavin is an exceptional young man with tremendous talent and character,” Chayka said in a release. “We had the opportunity to get to know him and his family, and each interaction strengthened our belief in him as both a player and a person.”

And while the Maple Leafs were a mess last season, the club still has a talented forward group led by captain and star centre Auston Matthews — selected No. 1 inside the same building as Friday’s proceedings a decade ago — that’s supported by William Nylander, John Tavares and Matthew Knies.

Owners of the NHL’s longest Stanley Cup drought, the Maple Leafs and McKenna will now look to reload under Chayka, new bench boss Jim Hiller and Mats Sundin, a franchise legend turned senior executive adviser of hockey operations.

Toronto — the sport’s biggest media market — made its third-ever top pick at a draft after selecting Wendel Clark in 1985 and Matthews in 2016.

“Pressure is a privilege,” McKenna said. “When you go to a fan base like that and you do well, it’s the best spot to be. I’m confident in myself. 

“Hopefully the fan base falls in love with me.”

The top-ranked North American skater according to NHL Central Scouting, McKenna burst into the sport’s consciousness in 2022 at age 14 with a four-assist debut in the WHL.

The phenom went on to register 34 goals and 97 points the following campaign before leading the entire Canadian Hockey League with an outrageous 129 points (41 goals, 88 assists) in 2024-25.

McKenna, who stands five foot 11 and weighs 170 pounds, could have remained in major junior for his draft year, but instead went the U.S. college route to face stiffer competition in hopes of being better prepared at the professional level.

After a period of adjustment on the ice, a February altercation where McKenna allegedly broke a man’s jaw could have derailed his season.

Prosecutors in Pennsylvania, however, subsequently dropped the most serious charge of aggravated assault. McKenna, who was not suspended by Penn State and hasn’t shared his version of events publicly, still faces charges of misdemeanour simple assault, along with harassment and disorderly conduct.

“A lot of ups and downs,” he said. “To get through all that stuff, pretty proud of myself.”

Now the next chapter will eventually lead to Scotiabank Arena.

“I love those fans already,” McKenna said. “I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”