Maple Leafs Sign Gavin McKenna To Entry-Level Contract

The Toronto Maple Leafs have taken the steps to ensure 2026 first-overall pick Gavin McKenna can turn pro. McKenna has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Toronto. The deal will remove his eligibility for college hockey, setting up a long-anticipated transition to the pros.

McKenna’s first NHL contract with carry a $1.025MM salary in year-one, a $1.075MM salary in year-two, and a $1.125MM salary in year-three. It will also include up to $1MM in Schedule A bonuses and $2.5MM in Schedule B bonuses through each season. Contract details were first reported by Chris Johnston of The Athletic.

McKenna was long expected to go first-overall in the 2026 NHL Draft class. The Whitehorse-native plays a style of hockey akin to Chicago Blackhawks legend Patrick Kane, who heard his name called first at the 2007 NHL Draft. Kane earned that selection after a historic performance in the OHL, scoring 62 goals and 145 points in just 58 games during his draft year. McKenna also found a way to reach new heights in his draft year, though not in the same stat-shattering manner as Kane.

Instead, McKenna was the first  CHL superstar to commit to college hockey after the NCAA changed a decades-old rule that qualified the CHL as professional sports. He further broke the mold by committing to Pennsylvania State University out of a recruiting cycle that reportedly featured many of college hockey’s top clubs, including Michigan State University. McKenna went on to become the highest-scoring player – in terms of points-per-game – in the Nittany Lions’ NCAA history. He finished his first-and-only year in college hockey with 15 goals, 36 assists, and 51 points in 35 games.

McKenna’s presence was an X-factor for Penn. State, who leaned on him to drive play and create scoring chances in must-win moments. McKenna filled a similar role over two full seasons with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. His age-16 season was marked by 34 goals and 97 points in 61 WHL games, a mark he blew past with 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games of the 2024-25 season. McKenna seemed set up to annihilate the WHL in his draft year, before deciding to seek out a greater challenge with a move into the United States.

Toronto will now ask McKenna to test his game-breaking talents at the top flight. The first-overall pick should earn an immediate, top-line role next to 2016 first-overall pick Auston Matthews and rising youngster Matthew Knies. Those should be perfect linemates for the young star, offering the dangerous goal-scoring and chippy forechecking needed to elevate McKenna’s abilities as a pure playmaker.

While his path to the NHL seems all-but-guaranteed, what number McKenna will wear is not yet clear. He wore #72 at development camp but gave that number up to incoming goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who signed with Toronto on July 1st. McKenna will have to make another decision on what number will mark his first days in the NHL. Regardless of his choice, the Maple Leafs seem primed to add another difference-maker to the fold after losing Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2025.