NHL draft tracker: Leafs select McKenna at No. 1; ...
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- Toronto Maple Leafs selected Gavin McKenna (Penn State, LW) at No. 1; the source projects him as a potential 100-point scorer and elite power-play asset who could help Auston Matthews regain a 50-goal pace under new coach Jim Hiller.
- San Jose Sharks picked Ivar Stenberg at No. 2 after trading William Eklund; Stenberg posted the second-most productive draft-eligible SHL season ever and led Sweden to world junior gold, drawing a Sam Reinhart comparison.
- Vancouver Canucks selected center Caleb Malhotra at No. 3, with the source noting he could be an awkward fit given his father Manny Malhotra coaches the team; his 84 points in 67 OHL games came almost entirely in the season's second half.
- Buffalo Sabres used the No. 4 pick acquired in the Bowen Byram trade on defenseman Daxon Rudolph, a high-upside offensive blueliner the source describes as a surprise given Chase Reid and Carson Carels were still on the board.
- New York Rangers drafted Latvian defenseman Alberts Smits at No. 5 and acquired Pavel Dorofeyev on draft night; the source frames both moves as a win-now push with the current core rather than a rebuild.
- Calgary Flames took defenseman Carson Carels at No. 6, described as the draft's most complete defensive prospect after leading the WHL in ice time with a 1.35 points-per-game second-half pace.
Why it matters: Toronto's pick of McKenna is the most consequential: a player the source projects as a potential 100-point scorer and elite power-play asset, with the fit specifically designed to restore Matthews' 50-goal pace. Elsewhere the top of the draft split sharply on timeline — the Rangers took the safer, lower-ceiling Smits to compete now while Buffalo swung on Rudolph's offensive upside, revealing opposite organizational clocks in one round.
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