Former Tigers forward McKenna expected to be picked first by Maple Leafs in NHL Entry Draft

In its final rankings, NHL Central Scouting had McKenna as the top North American Skater and Stenberg as the top European Skater.

The Maple Leafs won the draft lottery last month.

The San Jose Sharks hold the second pick.

The Vancouver Canucks will pick third, ahead of the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers.

The draft will be held over two days at KeyBank Center, with round one on Friday, and rounds two through seven on Saturday.

McKenna, 18, is coming off a standout season playing NCAA Division I hockey for Penn State in 2025-26.

The Whitehorse, Yukon product had 51 points in 35 games with 15 goals and 36 assists with the Nittany Lions.

He was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, awarded annually to the top NCAA Division I men’s hockey player. He also had several division awards in the Big 10 Conference, including Rookie of the Year, All-Rookie Team, Scoring Champion, and Second All-Star Team. McKenna was also named to the NCAA West Second All-American Team.

During international play with Team Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championships, he won a bronze medal. He was second in overall scoring with 14 points in seven games, with four goals and 10 assists. A point behind teammate Michael Hage.

Stenberg, 18, was also a standout at the World Juniors with 10 points in seven games, with four goals and six assists. He was fifth in the tournament scoring race and brought home a gold medal with Sweden.

He also had a strong showing at the World Hockey Championships with eight points in eight games, with four goals and four assists.

Playing professionally in the Swedish Hockey League in 2025-26, Stenberg had 33 points in 43 regular-season games with 11 goals and 22 assists. He added four assists in six playoff games.

It was one of the strongest seasons for a draft-eligible player in the history of the Swedish League, only trailing the Sedin twins for points.

Speaking of twins, the Medicine Hat Tigers have a pair of twin brothers who are also expected to be drafted by the end of the first few rounds.

Markus and Liam Ruck, who led the Canadian Hockey League in scoring, could potentially both hear their names called during Friday’s first round.

The two forwards lead a strong group of Tigers who were a part of the final rankings from NHL Central Scouting. Liam was ranked 20th, and Markus 23rd.

—

READ: Ruck twins lead eight Medicine Hat Tigers named to NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings (April 16, 2026)

—

Other Tigers ranked among North American Skaters are forwards Yaroslav Bryzgalov at 90th and Kade Stengrim at 93rd. Defencemen Riley Steen at 146th and Jonas Woo at 179th. Forward Kadon McCann holds the 185th ranking. Ranked 26th among North American Goaltenders is Carter Casey.

Medicine Hat’s Josh Evaschesen, 19, is also ranked as the 187th North American Skater by NHL Central Scouting for the draft.

The forward played with the Western Hockey League’s Kamloops Blazers during the 2025-26 season and had 73 points in 67 games with 33 goals and 40 assists. He added an assist in four playoff games.

Evaschesen is committed to playing for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers hockey team at the NCAA Division I level in 2026-27.

— With files from the Canadian Press and Will Bryant.

by Jesse Gill

Former Tigers forward McKenna expected to be picked first by Maple Leafs in NHL Entry Draft

Our Community