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Penn State

The Vancouver Canucks finished the 2025-26 NHL season with a league-worst 58 points (25-49-8) and had the best chance to capture the No. 1 overall pick at the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery. However, the Toronto Maple Leafs swooped in and snatched it away from them.

Toronto (32-36-14, 78 points) entered the lottery with the fifth-best chance to obtain the top pick at 8.5%. The Canucks had the best odds at 18.5%, but luck was not on their side as they had to settle for the third overall pick after the San Jose Sharks grabbed the No. 2 selection in a second drawing.

The Maple Leafs will be picking first for the third time in franchise history. They took Wendel Clark first overall in the 1985 NHL Draft and selected current team captain and three-time Maurice Richard Trophy winner Auston Matthews with the top pick in 2016.

Next month at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, it is highly expected that Toronto will bring Gavin McKenna into the fold. The 18-year-old forward is the top-rated North American skater in NHL Central Scouting's final rankings and is the overwhelming favorite at most major sportsbooks to be drafted first overall with odds ranging from -450 at DraftKings Sportsbook to -670 at FanDuel Sportsbook.

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The 5-foot-11, 170-pound McKenna spent three seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League before deciding to play collegiately at Penn State. He recorded 15 goals and 36 assists to rank fifth in the NCAA with 51 points in 35 games with the Nittany Lions this campaign and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Toronto was 16th in the NHL in 2025-26 with 252 goals and had only four players eclipse the 20-goal plateau, with John Tavares scoring 31 to lead the team. The Maple Leafs were second in the NHL in goals allowed (295), fired general manager Brad Treliving in late March and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016 after finishing atop the Atlantic Division last season.

The good fortune of winning Tuesday's draft lottery was much needed for the franchise, which made a controversial move a few days earlier by naming John Chayka general manager. The Toronto media was highly critical of the hiring of Chayka, who was suspended by the NHL in January 2021 for conduct detrimental to the league and game as he pursued opportunities with other teams while serving as GM of the now-defunct Arizona Coyotes and once hosted a private scouting combine for draft prospects, which is strictly prohibited by the NHL.

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While McKenna is the favorite to be selected first overall by the Maple Leafs, 18-year-old Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg is likely to be taken by San Jose, which acquired the second pick despite having just a 5.5% chance to do so. The Sharks have one of the top four picks for the fourth consecutive time, as they took Will Smith fourth overall in 2023, Macklin Celebrini at No. 1 in the following draft and Michael Misa with the second selection last year.

Stenberg is first in NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of international skaters. The 5-foot-11, 183-pounder amassed 11 goals and 22 assists in 43 games for Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League this past season and helped lead his nation to the gold medal at the 2026 World Junior Championships as he topped his team in scoring with four goals and six assists in seven contests.

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By slipping to No. 3, Vancouver can address a glaring need on the blue line as it allowed a league-high 314 goals in 2025-26. There are a number of high-ranked defensemen available for the 2026 NHL Draft, including the 6-foot-4 Keaton Verhoeff of the University of North Dakota, Carson Carels of the WHL's Prince George Cougars, Chase Reid of the Ontario Hockey League's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Latvian teenager Alberts Smits, who finished this past season with EHC Red Bull Munchen of Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Verhoeff, Carels and Reid are second, third and fourth, respectively, in the NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, while Smits is second among international skaters. The 18-year-old Smits was the youngest player at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where he notched a pair of assists in four games for Team Latvia.