Ranking the Best Landing Spots for Gavin McKenna in the 2026 NHL Draft – The Hockey Writers –

With the NHL announcing that the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery will be taking place on Tuesday, May 5, excitement for the coming draft is at an all time high. This draft doesn’t have a clear top-prospect, with no Macklin Celebrini or Matthew Schaefer in sight. However, there are at least three or four prospects who have placed themselves really well to be drafted early this year. 

Typically, I do an article like this for only the top prospect each year (with guys like Connor Bedard and Celebrini), but since there’s a small handful of guys who could go first overall, I thought I’d do articles for each of them this time around. 

First up is Gavin McKenna, who is the favourite to go first this year, though not by a wide margin. McKenna is an incredibly skilled winger who dominated the WHL and NCAA in back-to-back seasons, taking advantage of the new CHL-NCAA agreement to play for Penn. State University during his draft year. 

While he underperformed to start the year, drawing lots of questions with his defensive play and perceived lack of engagement physically, McKenna’s second half shut down most of his doubters. McKenna finished the year with 51 points in just 35 NCAA games, not far behind the likes of Celebrini and Adam Fantilli in terms of scoring rates as a freshman. 

He’s not a no-doubt, first overall player, with his position as a winger and questions about his physical play reducing his overall value, but McKenna’s ceiling is the highest in the 2026 Draft which is incredibly valuable. McKenna projects as a top-line winger who could run a powerplay and could become an Artemi Panarin or Patrick Kane-lite type of player in his prime. 

Now, onto the rankings. I will be ranking the NHL’s 11 worst teams from the 2024-25 season, as they are the only ones with a chance at landing the first overall selection. The NHL’s Draft Lottery rules dictate that a team can only jump up a maximum of 10 spots meaning just 11 teams have any hopes of winning the right to draft first. Let me be very clear, there are no bad options here, as every team in the bottom 11 this season has the potential for greatness with the addition of a foundational player like McKenna.  

I’ll be basing these rankings on a few factors, including how likely the team is to compete in the near future, how big of a role is available, and any other unique factors. Without further ado, let’s take a look at which NHL teams would make for the very best landing spots for Gavin McKenna

11. New York Rangers – 11.5%

The New York Rangers are a dysfunctional team with an aging core. They’re not likely to turn around quickly and don’t have a ton of young talent to surround McKenna with outside of Gabe Perreault (who deserved more attention this season) and Liam Greentree. Obviously, landing a player of McKenna’s caliber would be a best-case scenario for the Rangers, but I think McKenna could do a lot better.

10. Nashville Predators – 3.5%

The Nashville Predators are a team in limbo, good enough to compete for a playoff spot, but not good enough to make it or do anything if they did.

They have a few strong young players but lots of their best players are on the back half of their careers. In the short term, playing with Filip Forsberg or Steven Stamkos could be a great opportunity, but the longterm outlook is bleak aside from youngsters like Matthew Wood, Brady Martin, and Ryker Lee.

9. Seattle Kraken – 7.5%

The Seattle Kraken have been in a weird spot ever since their expansion draft. They are desperate for a superstar to market their team around which might be exactly the right spot for McKenna. He could play alongside some good (but not elite) young centers and strong veteran wingers, but it doesn’t feel like the Kraken will be particularly close to being a winning team even with his inclusion.

8. Calgary Flames – 9.5%

McKenna would immediately become the focal point of the Flames’ rebuild, and getting the chance to play with Zayne Parekh again could be exciting considering how well they played at the last World Junior Championship. The Flames are just over a year away from unveiling a brand new arena and practice facility which is a bonus, and McKenna played his junior career just a couple of hours down the highway in Medicine Hat, Alberta. If the rumor that he loves the Flames is to be believed, then they could rank as high as one or two on this list.

7. St. Louis Blues – 3%

The St. Louis Blues are a mediocre team with some good bones as far as younger talent. McKenna could theoretically play on the top line with Rob Thomas and has several snipers he could be paired with (Jimmy Snuggerud, Dylan Holloway, Justin Carbonneau). The Blues are in a bit of a mushy middle right now, but I think McKenna would go a long way in fixing that.

6. Chicago Blackhawks – 13.5%

The Chicago Blackhawks have tons of young talent, but so many of their players have a similar profile to McKenna as super skilled guys who are 6-feet-tall or shorter.

Regardless, McKenna could be an excellent fit next to Connor Bedard, setting him up for the next decade or so in Chicago. With Spencer Knight looking like the real deal, Chicago could be close to taking a massive leap in the standings so this wouldn’t be a bad spot for McKenna at all. 

5. Vancouver Canucks – 25.5%

The Vancouver Canucks are very bad, but their fans never gave up on them this season. They’ll be ecstatic to have a superstar prospect like McKenna and he would have plenty of good young players to grow alongside. Vancouver has the foundation of a good young team, with Zeev Buium, Tom Willander and Elias Pettersson on defense as well as Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren, Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Braeden Cootes at forward. 

4. Winnipeg Jets – 6.5%

Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor are elite forwards, and would both benefit from a highly skilled playmaker like McKenna. The Jets missed the additional offense of Nikolaj Ehlers this season and McKenna could replace that even as a rookie. The Jets still have Hellebuyck, one of the best goalies in the world, Josh Morrisey and Gabe Villardi too. There’s still a lot of talent in Winnipeg, and adding someone of McKenna’s caliber should see them competing in the playoffs again a year from now.

3. Florida Panthers – 6%

Goaltending and injuries sunk the Florida Panthers this season, with their captain and best player Alexander Barkov missing the entire season. Some decent goaltending should be enough to see them competing for the cup again as soon as next season. In Florida, McKenna wouldn’t get thrown into the deep end immediately, but could easily find a role on the top line in time.

2. Toronto Maple Leafs – 8.5%

The prospect of playing with Auston Matthews would be thrilling as a playmaking winger. The Maple Leafs clearly missed the skill in their top six after losing Mitch Marner in free agency, and McKenna could be a fixture on their top powerplay as soon as October.

The Leafs were a dysfunctional team this past season but they still have tons of talent on the roster (William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Matthew Knies) and should be much better next season. 

1. San Jose Sharks – 5%

Come on, you had to see this one coming right? Playing on the top line with Macklin Celebrini has to be a best-case-scenario for McKenna. Celebrini scored 45 goals this year and looks like an absolute superstar, which relieves some of the “face of the franchise” pressure while giving McKenna some elite talent to bounce off of. The Sharks very nearly made the playoffs this season despite low preseason expectations, and will only continue to improve given how young and talented their team is.