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Maple Leafs Win Lottery, Grab No. 1 Pick Gavin McKenna

5/6/2026

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Summary

Story summary

The Toronto Maple Leafs won the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery, securing the No. 1 pick for the June 27 draft.
Carrying an 8.5 percent chance, the pick would have gone to Boston if the Leafs had not won.
General manager John Chayka and advisor Mats Sundin named forward Gavin McKenna as the No. 1 pick, with his 41 goals and 129 points in 56 WHL games.
Toronto missed the playoffs this season, ending a decade-long streak.

History

Historical Context

After the Penguins turned a low lottery odds into the 2005 first-overall pick of Sidney Crosby—mirroring their 1984 selection of Mario Lemieux—the NHL’s weighted lottery, introduced in 2012-13, gave Toronto an 8.5 % chance to win the 2026 lottery, which it did to claim forward Gavin McKenna and begin a rebuild.

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Story summary

The Toronto Maple Leafs won the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery, securing the No. 1 pick for the June 27 draft.
Carrying an 8.5 percent chance, the pick would have gone to Boston if the Leafs had not won.
General manager John Chayka and advisor Mats Sundin named forward Gavin McKenna as the No. 1 pick, with his 41 goals and 129 points in 56 WHL games.
Toronto missed the playoffs this season, ending a decade-long streak.

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