Why Gavin McKenna will have a strong support group with Maple Leafs

Published Jun 27, 2026  •  Last updated 11 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

From left, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Gavin McKenna, and Justin Bieber are on stage after McKenna was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs with the first overall pick during day one of the 2026 NHL Draft on June 26, 2026 in Buffalo, N.Y Photo by Bruce Bennett /Getty Images

Good news if you were one of the fans wearing a Gavin McKenna Maple Leafs jersey at the National Hockey League draft in Buffalo on Friday.

You’re not going to have to make any changes to it.

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McKenna will be the third Leafs player to wear No. 72, following Travis Boyd and Mathieu Schneider.

“I wasn’t planning on changing my number, I was planning on keeping it,” McKenna said with a smile as he was formally introduced to Leafs beat writers Saturday morning, alongside general manager John Chayka and senior executive Mats Sundin, at the Ford Performance Centre.

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Will there be a Bobrovsky conversation?

An interesting conversation could come in the next few weeks, as speculation persists that the Leafs have interest in signing goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who is headed for unrestricted free agency on July 1.

Bobrovsky has worn No. 72 in his NHL career, in Columbus and then in Florida. When he became a member of the Panthers in 2019, Bobrovsky gave new teammate Frank Vatrano a Rolex watch and dinner for a year to get No. 72 from the forward.

Anyway, we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. McKenna might not have to worry about being approached by the veteran netminder.

Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers looks back into the net following a by Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders. Getty Images

The first time he dons the Leafs’ blue and white on the ice will come later this week when the club holds its development camp. When that ends, McKenna will head back to Kelowna to continue his off-season training.

After he was picked first overall by the Leafs on Friday night, the initial 16 hours or so for McKenna were quite the whirlwind and included, by his count, approximately 60 congratulatory texts.

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Leafs captain Auston Matthews and John Tavares were among those who sent McKenna a message. Another one stood out: Patrick Kane. McKenna has drawn comparisons to the nifty future Hall of Famer. And they’re both represented by agent Pat Brisson.

“Patrick Kane, he’s my idol,” McKenna said. “He’s who I grew up watching. I don’t know if it was all the YouTube highlights that made me play like him, but he’s someone I always watched, how creative he was, and how smart he was. He rubbed off on me, I guess.”

And McKenna said that Matthews texted that “he’s looking forward to snapping it around with me.”

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We’ll be curious to see if the Leafs set their sights on Kane in free agency. You’d think he would be a possibility for Toronto.

What we do know is that McKenna will be surrounded by Leafs who will be able to properly show him the ropes. That can only be a positive.

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Matthews (2016) and Tavares (2009) were the first pick overall in the NHL. Ditto Sundin, who was chosen first by the Quebec Nordiques in 1989 and went on to play the majority of his career, 981 games, with the Leafs.

All three have worn the captain’s C in Toronto.

Leafs legend Mats Sundin has been hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs as Senior Executive Advisor as announced during a press conference held at Real Sports Bar & Grill in Toronto on Monday May 4, 2026. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk /Toronto Sun/Postmedia

How can Sundin help McKenna?

“The most important message or advice I can give to Gavin is to start true to himself,” Sundin said. “If anything that’s different in Toronto than other markets, it’s the size of the fan base, the interest from the city, and it’s the hockey capital of the world.

“But it’s a game of hockey. The way Gavin played as a kid, in college, who he is as a person, that’s the most important message. Stay true to that and he’s going to have a great career. That’s the basics of it.

“Gavin is going to be an unbelievable asset for the Leafs for a long time.”

Said McKenna on working with Sundin: “When you have someone like that who can lead you and guide you through this, it means a lot. As a young guy, you want to learn from people like that. I’m very lucky.”

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