BUFFALO, N.Y. — Justin Bieber tipped Gavin McKenna off.
As the famous Toronto Maple Leafs fan walked straight up the gut of the NHL draft floor, he looked over at North America’s top-ranked prospect and his traveling entourage from Whitehorse, smiling.
That’s when McKenna felt a smidge more confident that he would indeed become 2026’s first-overall draft choice, joining the star singer’s favourite hockey team.
Moments later — as Bieber announced “Mr. McKenna” as the choice and the winger’s aptly chosen walk-up song, Bieber’s “Yukon”, blared through KeyBank Center — the prospect hugged all the family members who got him here, a collage of faces who feature on the custom lining of the No. 1 draftee’s Friday night suit.
Then the teenager from way up north, that proud member of the Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation, scrambled onto the dais, pulled on the Blue and White, chatted with his real-life soundtrack, and pinched himself.
A dream come true? Not quite.
“This isn’t what I imagined when I was a young kid; it’s so much better,” McKenna said. “If I was a young kid telling myself this is where I’d be, he’d be in shock.”
Not so shocking is the pick: It was always McKenna. The hot, new Canadian hockey star to the hottest Canadian market. And a team that not so long ago lost a dazzling winger and — after tumbling from final five to bottom five in less than 12 months — sure could use a fresh one.
The mission eastbound and up the QEW is clear: Get the 18-year-old into the Opening Night lineup, and return to both the playoffs and relevancy in the penultimate season of Auston Matthews’ contract.
“I’m ready for it,” McKenna stated. “Being a Canadian kid and going to the biggest hockey market in the world… I love those fans already. It’s one of the most passionate fanbases out there.”
Matthews’ buddy Bieber made a prediction: “I know this guy is gonna kill it.”
The Maple Leafs sure think so.
New general manager John Chayka says picking McKenna over No. 2 Ivar Stenberg and the cluster of potential game-breaking defencemen also available was “unanimous” in Toronto’s head office.
This after Toronto’s amateur scouts, led by Mark Leach, spent hours studying video and analytics, speaking with character references, and poring over medical reports on the top prospects.
“We wanted to make sure we thought about it in all the different ways possible,” Chayka said. “You name it. Just to make sure we’re not missing anything. But I think, at the end of the day, it was straightforward.”
Chayka impressed McKenna by flying up to Whitehorse to spend quality time with him and his family prior to the big night in Buffalo.
“You know, he’s a small-town kid,” Chayka said. “Within that, I think there’s some real resolve with who he is, and what his career means to him and his family. I find it impressive.
“The quality of the family, the quality of the people, how much family means to him,” the GM continued. “His roots, how important it is for him to give back to his community that’s given him so much. I think those are all really interesting things.”
McKenna impressed the exec in turn by taking him for a rip up the mountain on a side-by-side.
And now they ride together.
“We’ve spent a lot of time with him and his family,” Chayka said. “Just going through that process — we want to make sure we get the person right, first and foremost. Everyone’s seen him play and knows his skill level and the talent. But as we think about a Toronto Maple Leaf and what that means, we were just really digging into that part.
“It’s about getting the right person. In a market like this, I don’t think you can miss on that.”
McKenna, who racked up 51 points in 35 games as a freshman with Penn State, prides himself on his work ethic.
“I like to drag my teammates into the fire. Whether it’s on or off the ice, I really like to push myself hard,” he said.
The tribulations of McKenna’s roller-coaster draft year — a sluggish start adapting to the NCAA game; a gut-wrenching world junior finish; and, most notably, an aggravated assault charge against him (that was dropped) — appear to have steeled the young man.
He comes off mature and assured.
“I was by myself at a young age in a new city, in college. To get through all that stuff, pretty proud of myself for that,” McKenna said. “I want to be known as a good hockey player, but I want to be known as a better person.”
McKenna walked KeyBank’s red carpet sporting a beaded wolf pin. Under his suit, a sleeve tattoo features a wolf and cabin in the arctic woods. Both are nods to his Indigenous heritage and grandfather, Joe Mason, a survivor of the residential school system.
Home may have been a 54-hour drive northwest from the draft floor, but Whitehorse was in the house on Friday night.
“They’re all pretty excited. That place has meant the world to me. There’s a big draft watch party in the Yukon right now,” McKenna said. “Without those communities in the Yukon supporting me, helping me fund to go down south, I wouldn’t be here. So, the Yukon is a place I’ll always call home. I’ll always carry that pride with me.
“If I’m ever thinking too far ahead or the pressure’s getting to me, I’ve always got my family behind my back.”
McKenna becomes just the third No. 1–overall pick in Leafs history, following captains Wendel Clark (1985) and Matthews, who was called to this exact stage 10 years ago.
On that stage, Bieber introduced Matthews, who welcomed McKenna in a pre-filmed video message. And new head coach Jim Hiller has already spoken to Matthews about helping guide McKenna.
“My captain,” McKenna smiled. “He’s on the first line. I’ll have to prove myself to play with a player like that, but that’s my goal.
“My game is a playmaker. He’s a shooter. I think we could complement each other pretty well.”
This early, it’s impossible to know how these picks will turn out. But judging, first, by this special talent’s ceiling and, second, by McKenna’s reaction to joining the Maple Leafs — and Leafs Nation’s reaction to its new hope — it sounds like Bieber glanced over at the right table.
Maybe we’ll look back one day and realize the pop singer wasn’t the only superstar on that Buffalo stage in 2026.
Bring on all that big, mean Toronto pressure, McKenna says. It’s a privilege.
“When you go to a fanbase like that and you do well, it’s the best spot to be. It’s the greatest market out there. I’m confident in myself, and I want to do good. So, hopefully the fanbase falls in love with me and it’s a good time,” said McKenna, already thinking about those first strides at Scotiabank Arena this fall.
“One of the coolest rinks out there. It’s going to be exciting. Cannot wait for that day to come.”
