On Friday, Yukon, Canada will be the place to be to watch the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft.
The hometown of Gavin McKenna – the projected No. 1 pick in the draft – is where hockey fans in the community will gather for a draft watch party to celebrate McKenna’s big day.
Dan Johnson, a longtime friend of the McKenna family, organized the event, and said the community has been all-in on getting the watch party underway.
“It didn’t take much to get it going,” Johnson said. “We’re a pretty deep hockey community in the Yukon. Within a matter of a week or two, we had tons of sponsorships, we had tons of people jumping on board for all sorts of donations from providing the chairs and the tables, to the AV setup, to the food, to Gavin memorabilia.”
Friday’s watch party will be at Takhini Arena, the local ice rink in Whitehorse, Yukon, where many in the community started their own hockey journeys.
“It’s a pretty iconic place for anybody who grew up in the Yukon,” Johnson said. “We all started off on that ice, so we thought Takhini Arena, on the ice surface, would be a great spot.”
Johnson grew up with McKenna’s parents, Willy and Krystal, and even coached hockey with Krystal. Johnson’s nephew (who is about the same age as McKenna) played hockey with McKenna.
“Our families have been intertwined for a longtime,” Johnson said. “We’re very close. All of us grew up in Whitehorse and played hockey together. So, we’ve always been pretty close.
“It’s kind of beyond description,” he continued. “Going back to playing on a bunch of outdoor rinks wanting to be in the NHL, and now Gavin is about to start that journey. It’s been pretty wild.”
Johnson – who serves as president of Hockey Yukon – said the event will be more than just a watch party. There will be a biergarten, mini stick games, hardest shot competitions, and more activities throughout the evening.
He’s expecting anywhere between 500 and 1,000 people at the arena, adding that people in the Yukon oftentimes don’t sign up for events in advance, and rather just show up.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a packed event,” Johnson said. “It’s just a matter of do we have enough pizza?”
The event will also double as a fundraiser. Johnson teamed up with Special Olympics to help set up the watch party, and funds will go there, as well as to Hockey Yukon.
Johnson sees the event as a way to celebrate McKenna and highlight his impact on the Yukon community.
In addition to a showing of the recent documentary, "The McKenna Project," Johnson will be putting together a slideshow that includes photos and videos of McKenna’s hockey journey through the Yukon. Some of McKenna’s former teammates and coaches will also be in attendance.
“For a lot of us it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience with the position that Gavin’s put himself in,” Johnson said. “We’re pretty proud of our hockey players in the Yukon. We like to celebrate our own.”
