Confirmed with Link: LEAFS WIN #1 PICK IN 2026 NHL DRAFT

[Zybalto]

You could have been describing the player in your profile pic who had the exact same concerns and great success stepping into the NHL from junior.

100% hes drafting Turris over Kane in 2007. Gotta pick the two way center right?

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

Leafs win #1 pick in 2026 NHL draft.

Now all of a sudden everyone's an expert on every prospect there is this year. I can't even imagine trying to pretend knowing anything about these kids. I've never seen any of them play and I suspect other than the wjc most of the experts on this site haven't either.

Why would anyone not getting paid to do so even bother watching an SHL game for example.

I wouldn't even know where to find one if I wanted to... which I don't. The NCAA is another farce unless your kid plays there. Outside the NHL the rest of the leagues on this shithole planet are filled with a bunch of never-wases and never-will-be's.

If that makes me an uninformed fan I really don't care.

I already spend hours a day most of the year following the Leafs. As such I'm excited for McKenna and hope he's gonna be a star from the drop of the first puck. How anyone can waste their time putting him down instead of embracing the good fortune we fans have recieved after such a dreadful season is beyond my infantile pea-brained comprehension.

Maybe he will be a bust, but right now everything seems to indicate he's gonna be a star, so until proven otherwise I'm just gonna be happy the Leafs got him and so should you.

 

[IPS]

Leafs win #1 pick in 2026 NHL draft.

Now all of a sudden everyone's an expert on every prospect there is this year. I can't even imagine trying to pretend knowing anything about these kids. I've never seen any of them play and I suspect other than the wjc most of the experts on this site haven't either.

Why would anyone not getting paid to do so even bother watching an SHL game for example.

I wouldn't even know where to find one if I wanted to... which I don't. The NCAA is another farce unless your kid plays there. Outside the NHL the rest of the leagues on this shithole planet are filled with a bunch of never-wases and never-will-be's.

If that makes me an uninformed fan I really don't care.

I already spend hours a day most of the year following the Leafs. As such I'm excited for McKenna and hope he's gonna be a star from the drop of the first puck. How anyone can waste their time putting him down instead of embracing the good fortune we fans have recieved after such a dreadful season is beyond my infantile pea-brained comprehension.

Maybe he will be a bust, but right now everything seems to indicate he's gonna be a star, so until proven otherwise I'm just gonna be happy the Leafs got him and so should you.

Amateurs trying to pretend they're experts on the internet to feed their ego. Nothing worse.

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Hes coming home baby.

 

[ACC1224]

Hes coming home baby.

Who is?

 

[IPS]

Quit projecting and go to bed, you clearly haven't spent an adequate amount of time watching(or even following) McKenna or Lafreniere(as a prospect) so why continue to embarrass yourself with laughably bad takes?

Every time there's gotta be these tryhard contrarian attempts with someone acting like they're smarter than they actually are.

I'm guessing Mckenna will struggle a couple games at the start of the year and that poster will come in here and gloat like they were right all along and then Mckenna will figure it out and take off and we'll never hear from him again on the topic. That's the great thing about the internet, you can spew out shit takes non-stop yet never have to answer for them when they turn out wrong.

 

[Rare Jewel]

Rankings before their draft:

McKenna:
View attachment 1257687

Schaefer:
View attachment 1257688

More people had Schaefer ranked #2 than McKenna. Revisionist history (and the Leafs winning the draft lottery) has people claiming McKenna is not a Schaefer level prospect.

I mean, he played 17 games in Erie and 2 at the WJC...

 

[Divine]

I mean, he played 17 games in Erie and 2 at the WJC...

If McKenna played 0 games this year he still goes #1

Obviously that limitation didn’t hurt him being the consensus #1.

Misa played 0 games at the WJC and went 2…

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[Rare Jewel]

Obviously that limitation didn’t hurt him being the consensus #1.

You’re just nitpicking to nitpick.

Hmm... nitpicking what exactly?

 

[Divine]

Hmm... nitpicking what exactly?

That 17 games hurt his draft stock. It clearly didn’t. His draft stock rose his draft year. He did not enter his draft year being the #1 pick.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

Leafs win #1 pick in 2026 NHL draft.

Now all of a sudden everyone's an expert on every prospect there is this year. I can't even imagine trying to pretend knowing anything about these kids. I've never seen any of them play and I suspect other than the wjc most of the experts on this site haven't either.

Why would anyone not getting paid to do so even bother watching an SHL game for example.

I wouldn't even know where to find one if I wanted to... which I don't. The NCAA is another farce unless your kid plays there. Outside the NHL the rest of the leagues on this shithole planet are filled with a bunch of never-wases and never-will-be's.

If that makes me an uninformed fan I really don't care.

I already spend hours a day most of the year following the Leafs. As such I'm excited for McKenna and hope he's gonna be a star from the drop of the first puck. How anyone can waste their time putting him down instead of embracing the good fortune we fans have recieved after such a dreadful season is beyond my infantile pea-brained comprehension.

Maybe he will be a bust, but right now everything seems to indicate he's gonna be a star, so until proven otherwise I'm just gonna be happy the Leafs got him and so should you.

I've seen numerous videos posted of McKenna hilghights and I'm very comfortable saying he's special.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Who is?

McDavid

 

[Rare Jewel]

That 17 games hurt his draft stock. It clearly didn’t. His draft stock rose his draft year. He did not enter his draft year being the #1 pick.

No, quite the opposite. I'm about as big a Schaefer booster as you'll find. Was my #1 over Hagens and co. from WJC onward.


However, I did make the point for a reason that you would probably find contentious.

 

[Divine]

No, quite the opposite. I'm about as big a Schaefer booster as you'll find. Was my #1 over Hagens and co. from WJC onward.


However, I did make the point for a reason that you would probably find contentious.

.
Schaefer was not a higher regarded prospect than McKenna - it's revisionist history now is the point. There was more debate on Schaefer going #1 than there was McKenna. More lists had Schaefer not being #1 than McKenna.

In fact, there was a debate last year that if McKenna was draft eligible in 2025, he would have went #1.

 

[Rare Jewel]

.
Schaefer was not a higher regarded prospect than McKenna - it's revisionist history now is the point. There was more debate on Schaefer going #1 than there was McKenna. More lists had Schaefer not being #1 than McKenna.

No, he wasn't, but that does illustrate how things can change, particularly for someone who had pre-draft hype in Hagens. The point about the 17 games was that if he had played 60 or so, they're likely to have been even more unanimity about his draft position, so the comparison to McKenna is one that should be viewed with that in mind.

 

[Divine]

No, he wasn't, but that does illustrate how things can change, particularly for someone who had pre-draft hype in Hagens. The point about the 17 games was that if he had played 60 or so, they're likely to have been even more unanimity about his draft position, so the comparison to McKenna is one that should be viewed with that in mind.

It could have went either way if he played more games. He came in with a hot start and got injured, he was unlikely to keep pace over a full season. A year prior, he had 17 points in 56 games. He started his draft season with 22 points in 17 games and then got injured.

The general stance around that draft was that McKenna likely goes #1 in 2025 if he was eligible. He was very highly regarded in junior - he made the WJC in his d-1 while Misa (who went #2 overall in 2025) didn't make the WJC team until after he was drafted.

 

[Rare Jewel]

It could have went either way if he played more games. He came in with a hot start and got injured, he was unlikely to keep pace over a full season. A year prior, he had 17 points in 56 games. He started his draft season with 22 points in 17 games and then got injured.

So, you're saying that with a larger sample size, he would've hurt his draft stock, based on what we've seen in the NHL this season?

Respectfully, I disagree.

 

[Divine]

So, you're saying that with a larger sample size, he would've hurt his draft stock, based on what we've seen in the NHL this season?

Respectfully, I disagree.

Yes, the exact same thing happened to Hagens last year. If Hagens was injured to start the year, instead of struggling, he likely goes higher in the draft. He entered the season #1 and dropped to #7.

I also think if Hagens put up McKenna's numbers in his draft year - he gets picked before Schaefer.

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Who is?

Gavin McKenna

 

[BallardEra]

Maple Leafs should select Stenberg, analyst tells ‘NHL Draft Class’ podcast | NHL.com

Sportsnet’s Bukala says he’s had Frolunda forward ranked higher than McKenna since January

www.nhl.com

 

[Rare Jewel]

Yes, the exact same thing happened to Hagens last year. If Hagens was injured to start the year, instead of struggling, he likely goes higher in the draft. He entered the season #1 and dropped to #7.

I also think if Hagens put up McKenna's numbers in his draft year - he gets picked before Schaefer.

Ifs and buts...

With 'prodigious talent and boundless potential,' Schaefer tops McKenzie's Ranking

If, as expected, Matthew Schaefer is taken No. 1 overall by the Islanders, it will be unprecedented. That is, no No. 1 pick will have ever played so few games in his draft year as Schaefer.

www.tsn.ca

Schaefer’s year was initially curtailed by a bout of mononucleosis that kept him out of Erie’s first nine games, and then a season-ending broken collarbone suffered when he crashed into a goal frame versus Latvia in only his second game at the WJC.

So, when 10 out of 10 NHL scouts put the 6-foot-2, 183-pound dynamo at No. 1 in the annual TSN draft ranking poll, was there any hesitation because of the unprecedented small sample size?

“No,” said one scout. “None whatsoever.”

McKenna edges Stenberg to finish atop TSN’s final draft ranking

Gavin McKenna is the winner - albeit by the slimmest of margins - in the race for No. 1 in TSN’s 2026 Final NHL Draft Ranking.

www.tsn.ca

What began as a runaway contest has ended in a photo finish.

Gavin McKenna is the winner - albeit by the slimmest of margins - in the race for No. 1 in TSN’s 2026 Final NHL Draft Ranking.

McKenna, Canada’s trailblazing major junior/collegiate superstar, prevailed over Ivar Stenberg, Sweden’s teen sensation, in a showdown of 5-foot-11 left wingers.

“However close it may be, Gavin McKenna deserves No. 1 billing this year,” said TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button. “He has that ‘it’ factor you want in a No. 1 draft pick.”

McKenna’s tally for the final ranking was five No. 1’s, four No. 2’s and one No. 3, while Stenberg’s was three No.1’s, five No. 2’s and two No. 3’s.

Their trajectories differ quite a bit, which is why I'm not as comfortable with the comp as you are.

 

[Apotheosis]

If McDavid leaves Edmonton he’s going stateside. Wants those low taxes and sunshine. Kudos for committing to a team with lousy ownership and management but enough is enough.

I honestly don't think he goes to a US team.

 

[ITM]

I see Stenberg's support is growing, but I suspect getting comfortable with McKenna the Maple Leaf is prudent. The buzz around him coming to Toronto might be too strong for Rogers' to defer to a choice other than McKenna.

I've come around liking McKenna more than I did. He does have more dog in him (or wolf as his clan affiliation would insist) than I thought. Still, I watch Stenberg and I see a 200 ft., point A to B, offensive catalyst that is perfectly comfortable in conflict and traffic. Every year, the playoffs confirm that that type of style wins championships.

It would be too hard a pill for this market to swallow if Stenberg was selected...unfortunately.

 

[Divine]

If my grandmother had a wheel, she would be a bike...

With 'prodigious talent and boundless potential,' Schaefer tops McKenzie's Ranking

If, as expected, Matthew Schaefer is taken No. 1 overall by the Islanders, it will be unprecedented. That is, no No. 1 pick will have ever played so few games in his draft year as Schaefer.

www.tsn.ca

McKenna edges Stenberg to finish atop TSN’s final draft ranking

Gavin McKenna is the winner - albeit by the slimmest of margins - in the race for No. 1 in TSN’s 2026 Final NHL Draft Ranking.

www.tsn.ca

Their trajectories differ quite a bit, which is why I'm not as comfortable with the comp as you are.

I'm completely comfortable with it.

Some people (including scouts) seem to be unaware that the transition from CHL to the NCAA is harder than the transition from the traditional USHL to NCAA route. This year's freshman class was virtually all CHLers pushing up the level of competition. As we get more data on how players typically transition from CHL to NCAA - I think scouts will adjust their view accordingly.

Both McKenna and Verheoff, who were ranked the top 2 prospects heading into the 2026 draft seasons rankings dropped due to their initial struggles in the NCAA. McKenna went from unanimous #1 pick to consensus, and Verheoff went from projected #2 pick to ~8.