‘It doesn’t really feel real’: Gavin McKenna ready to – finally – hear his name called at the NHL Draft
BUFFALO – Gavin McKenna was 14 years old when he was signing autographs in Kelowna.
He was a special talent from a young age, with fans clamoring to see the teenage star while he was still just starting high school. It’s been a long-time coming for McKenna, who is no stranger to the spotlight.
McKenna is as excited as anyone to finally – FINALLY – have his name called, the thing he has dreamed of his whole life. And it’s hard not to see him going first overall to the Toronto Maple Leafs later tonight.
“It doesn’t really feel real,” McKenna said during a media availability on Friday.
“I’ve just been super excited. Obviously, I’ve thought about it. But at the end of the day, wherever I get picked, I’m excited. It’s the NHL draft. I get to experience it with my family and go through it with them. So the fact that it’s here, I know my family and I are pumped.”
McKenna’s season was scrutinized to hell and back. A so-so first half with Penn State University left many scouts feeling he wasn’t the right choice at No. 1. It didn’t help that Ivar Stenberg was putting up outstanding numbers playing against men in the Swedish Hockey League, one of the best leagues in Europe.
But McKenna had a big World Juniors, registering 14 points in seven games en route to a bronze medal. McKenna then had 33 points in his final 19 games. He finished fifth in the country with 51 points in 35 games. Sure, he didn’t come close to Macklin Celebrini’s 64 points in his rookie year, but that was a truly special campaign on a much more competitive team.
There’s nothing left for McKenna to prove at the college or junior level. Next up? The NHL. On Friday, he’ll finally live his childhood dream of getting selected to the National Hockey League.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs, but through it all, it’s been some of the best years of my life,” McKenna said. “Getting to go to Medicine Hat and Penn State. I’ve been on a lot of journeys, and the fact that the draft is here, it’s flown by.”
McKenna will become the second Yukon-born player to get selected in the first round after Dylan Cozens went seventh overall in 2019 to Buffalo. There will be two watch parties in his hometown of Whitehorse, which has a population of just over 38,000. New Leafs GM John Chayka visited the McKenna family a few weeks ago to get to know them better – an experience McKenna appreciated. McKenna hasn’t lived there in a few years after playing in Medicine Hat and Penn State, but he still holds true to his small-town roots.
“I love the Yukon. That will always be my home. The support I’ve gotten from that community is pretty special. And for them to be putting together that draft party means the world to me. And I always carry that Yukon pride with me. I’m going to have to show Chayka a little bit of it. I hope he had a good time – he was smiling when I took him up on the mountain. So I had fun, and I hope he did.
“I get texts all the time from people saying how proud they are, and I just want to represent the Yukon well,” McKenna added. “I have a lot of young fans from that place, and whenever I get the chance to go home and meet with those kids and see the smiles they have, it means a lot to me, and I just carry that pride with me.”
McKenna has kept the status quo when it comes to answering questions about where he’ll get drafted. But like Auston Matthews 10 years before him, McKenna is expected to head back to Canada and challenge for a top-line role right away. And like Matthews, he’ll get selected in Buffalo – one of Toronto’s biggest rivals. Either way, he’s going to a far bigger market than Whitehorse.
“If I’m not drafted (to Buffalo), I want to be a villain wherever I go,” McKenna said with a smile.
McKenna is one of the few prospects who can handle the pressure of going to a major market, and that’s because he’s heard his name talked about in the media for close to half a decade already. He’s a mature, smart young man who looks destined to be a key contributor before too long. For now, though, he’s still just an 18-year-old living his dream – and he’s not taking the moment for granted.
“I’m just really trying to take it all in,” McKenna said. “You only get to go through this once in your life.”
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