Leafs’ Gavin McKenna to wear 92 during NHL rookie season
One of the top newcomers in the game has found a new number.
When speaking to the media on Saturday, Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Gavin McKenna revealed that he has chosen No. 92 for his first season in the NHL.
Gavin McKenna confirms he’ll wear No. 92 for the Maple Leafs.
The discussion of what number the first-overall pick would don in his first season in blue and white has become a talking point since the Maple Leafs signed veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to a three-year contract shortly after free agency opened on Wednesday. McKenna was very open to handing the number 72, the number he has won in his junior and college career, along with the Leafs’ development camp, over to the two-time Stanley Cup and Vezina Trophy winner.
“[Bobrovsky’s] won two Stanley Cups,” McKenna said on Thursday. “If he wants that number, he’s going to get that number.”
McKenna noted that his two backup numbers are 9 and 27, but both have been retired by the Original Six franchise, honoring Hockey Hall of Famers Ted Kennedy and Charlie Conacher (9), as well as Darryl Sittler (27).
McKenna explained how he came up with his new ‘identity’ by utilizing his favorite numbers.
“I’m going to go number 92,” McKenna stated when chatting with reporters on Saturday. “I said that 9 and 27 are up in the rafters and wanted to have a little bit of both in there. So 92, 9 replacing the 7.”
McKenna won’t be the first guy to wear 92 in Leaf Land. Jeff O’Neill was the first to do so in his final season in NHL – 2006-07 – while Igor Ozhiganov (2019) and Alex Nylander (2025) also have worn the number in their brief stints with the club.
McKenna and Bobrovsky are expected to lead the Leafs as they try to bounce back after an abysmal 2025-26 season, as the team finished last in the Atlantic Division, missing the postseason for the first time in 10 years.