Draft lottery win a much-needed game changer for Leafs

The hockey world was left stunned Tuesday night as the Toronto Maple Leafs won the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery, clinching the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft.

It’s just the third time in franchise history the Leafs have landed the top pick, with the team selecting Auston Matthews in 2016 and Wendel Clark in 1985.

Toronto had an 8.5% chance of getting the top spot, leapfrogging the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Calgary Flames. They now have the option of selecting Penn State forward and projected top pick Gavin McKenna in June.

What NHL Draft Lottery win means for the Leafs: four possible paths forward

What Gavin McKenna offers the Toronto Maple Leafs

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss the Leafs’ lottery win and what adding a player like McKenna could mean for Toronto.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I saw some people throwing this out there, “Will this push the Leafs into a rebuild?” or does it push them more into the mindset of: “We just added a top-six piece, we could be right back into the playoffs next year.”

Where do you come out on that?

Carter Hutton: I think the biggest situation you look at is: What does Auston Matthews do? If this is your retool piece, you get someone who can ride shotgun with Matthews, he can instantly jump right in and help. Maybe that’s the case, right?

But I still think of this team and get worrisome about the back end. Where do they add? Maybe they can focus on that if McKenna is the piece. It’s an instant change with a draft pick that can benefit a team moving forward.

When you look at the improvement of some of these Atlantic Division teams, this is a moment where a piece like McKenna can maybe help the Leafs can jump right back in the mix.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…