The spotlight is shining brightly on Gavin McKenna as the top pick in the draft, playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the biggest and most intense hockey market in the NHL.
“There’s going to be a lot of eyes on him,” said Macklin Celebrini, the 2024 No. 1 pick for San Jose. “In Toronto, you see kind of what goes on with the guys there and how difficult it can be at some points, which is a blessing and a curse, I think, with the amount of attention.
When you’re doing well, they’re going to treat you like royalty, but also every little mistake and stuff like that will be focused in on more and more.”
Celebrini, Matthew Schaefer with the New York Islanders and Connor Bedard with Chicago reached elite levels almost immediately after making the jump. The expectations are just as high for McKenna, the 18-year-old left winger from the Yukon who starred at Penn State before bouncing lottery balls sent him to Toronto.
“A little bit of a bigger market, but I think they have a great group there,” said Schaefer, who tied the rookie defenseman record for goals with 23 and was the unanimous Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year. “You can be very hard on yourself and have high expectations, but you've got to learn a lot from all the older guys and take as much advice as you can from all of them.”
One of those older guys is 36-year-old center John Tavares, the No. 1 pick of the Islanders in 2009 who wants to help the kid half his age adapt to this new life. McKenna is living with Tavares and his family this season.
“The amount of attention he’s going to receive, I think hopefully when he can come home, he can kind of decompress and disconnect and just be part of that family environment,” said Tavares, who lived with veteran Doug Weight his first couple of seasons in the NHL. "It can be really beneficial.”
McKenna — who turns 19 in December — joins a core led by captain (and 2016 No. 1 pick) Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Matthew Knies and Tavares. Missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade led to a regime change in the Maple Leafs front office with new coaches and a roster overhaul. It also set the table to win the lottery to get McKenna and start dreaming of contending again.
“A special kid, a special player (who is) going to mean a lot for the franchise for a long time and going to have a great chance to make an impact right away,” Tavares said. "You just want him to be himself. There’s a reason why he is who he is and the position he’s in, so I think he doesn’t have to come in and look to change or do a number of different things.”
McKenna is among the rookie of the year favorites but is just one player in an exciting class.
The Sharks winning the lottery for the second pick put them in position to grab Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg, who could immediately step in with Celebrini, Will Smith, Michael Misa and all the other high picks who look like they will one day make the path to the Stanley Cup go through San Jose.
“He’s really good,” Celebrini said. “I’m hoping it’ll only add another dynamic to our team.”
General manager Mike Grier seemed to think so highly of Stenberg that he traded young William Eklund to Ottawa in June for the ninth pick. The Sharks took Keaton Verhoeff, filling a key need with a stud defenseman prospect.
The sixth pick in the draft last year got a head start on McKenna and Stenberg, joining Philadelphia in late March fresh off his college career at Michigan State. The 6-foot-3, 214-pound winger had 10 points in nine games to help the Flyers make the playoffs, then recorded five more as they got to the second round.
Martone, who turns 20 on Oct. 26, is a big reason why Philadelphia is improving.
“Big, strong, and I think he knows his game,” teammate Trevor Zegras said. “I’m excited to see full season, what he can do. Obviously, I think the experience that he got at the end of last season should help him this year, for sure.”
Hutson as a 5-11, 175-pound defenseman looks very different than Martone, though he also went right from the NCAA to the NHL to get a taste of what it's like. He put up 10 points in 14 games from the blue line, looking a lot like older brother Lane with Montreal, who won the Calder Trophy over Celebrini and others in 2024.
Washington's Tom Wilson expects Hutson to develop over time after making a great first impression.
“It was a small sample size, but I think you see the upside (and) you see the skill level — that’s not going to go away overnight," Wilson said. “He doesn’t need to know everything. He doesn’t needs to be the best player on the ice every night. He needs to be himself and continue to get better and take over the league slowly but surely, hopefully, one day.”
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