Maple Leafs have 'monumental type of opportunity' after winning NHL Draft Lottery

TORONTO -- Congratulations on your new jobs, Mats Sundin and John Chayka.

In lieu of a nice bottle of wine, how does the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft sound as a welcoming gift?

Come to think of it, there aren’t many things that could be a better one.

Just consider what the new leadership regime of the Toronto Maple Leafs went through in a head-spinning 48-hour span.

On Sunday, Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment released a statement announcing the hiring of Sundin as senior executive adviser, hockey operations, and Chayka as the 19th general manager in the franchise's history.

On Monday, the two were publicly introduced at a press conference that became heated at times and was, in the case of Chayka, greeted with universal criticism from a skeptical fan base.

Then, on Tuesday, came the denouement.

With Sundin, the Maple Leafs and Hockey Hall of Fame legend, on hand at the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey, for the NHL Draft Lottery, Toronto, which came into the night with the fifth-best odds of winning the lottery (8.5 percent), shocked its supporters and, perhaps, itself, when the Ping-Pong balls fell in its favor.

The surprise, the shock, the immediacy of it all, had Chayka summing it up in three simple words.

"Just, yeah, elated,” he said.

He should be.

Because on a night when it could have all gone so wrong, it instead couldn’t have ended up better.

Consider the fact that had any team leapfrogged the Maple Leafs, who finished 28th in NHL standings, in the lottery, they would have forfeited the pick, which was top-5 protected, to their rival Boston Bruins as part of the trade that landed them defenseman Brandon Carlo on March 7, 2025.

Had that scenario played out, the Sundin-Chayka era would have started out on a disastrous foot.

Instead, it arguably got an unexpected adrenalin boost.

"We needed some luck and we got it tonight,” Chayka said. “A long road ahead, of course, and lots of work to do still, but when you get a first overall pick, it's a monumental type of opportunity.

“I think it's a really good draft with a lot of good players. It's an honor to pick No. 1 overall.”

The two names that top the list of available players: Penn State forward Gavin McKenna and Swedish forward Ivar Stenberg, the top North American and International skaters, respectively, by NHL Central Scouting.

In the moments after the Maple Leafs won the lottery, the narrative of how much pressure will be put on whichever teenager comes to the hockey fishbowl of Toronto immediately arose.

For his part, Sundin was having none of it.

"The Toronto Maple Leafs are, in my opinion, the greatest hockey franchise in the world,” he said. “It's definitely the greatest fanbase, with support not only in Ontario and Toronto but across North America.

“It's a great opportunity for whoever is going to be first overall to come in and represent the Toronto Maple Leafs. So, whoever it is going to be is going to enjoy it.”

McKenna, who is a native of Whitehorse, Yukon, was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year after finishing tied for fifth in the NCAA in scoring with 51 points (15 goals, 36 assists) in 35 games this season.

"Exciting player,” Chayka said. “I've tracked him for a number of years now, and the skill level, the creativity, his puck ability, and then his shot release is all pretty special. It's a good package, so it will be good to get with the scouts and talk through it all.”

Stenberg had 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 43 games with Frolunda in the Swedish Hockey League. It was the most points in a season by an 18-year-old in that league since Daniel Sedin (42) and Henrik Sedin (34) in 1998-99.

"I think it's a strong draft,” Sundin said. “The first round is really strong and Ivar has had a strong season, from the World Junior Championship and ... probably in the World Championship this year in a couple weeks.

“It's a strong draft, so it's going to be interesting and a lot of looking at these different players knowing we have the first overall pick. So, it will be a lot of work ahead for us.”

One of Toronto's issues moving forward had been a lack of prospects poised to usher in a new wave of Maple Leafs hockey. The two with the most promise until now: forward Easton Cowan, a 20-year-old forward who had 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) in 66 games as a rookie with Toronto this season; and defenseman Ben Danford, a 20-year-old with the Brantford Bulldogs who was named the best defensive defenseman in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference in the annual OHL coaches poll.

That prospect pool is about to get much better come the 2026 draft at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on June 26-27.

Ironically, the last time the NHL Draft was held in Buffalo (2016), which is roughly two hours south of Toronto, the Maple Leafs used the No. 1 pick to select Auston Matthews, who is now the captain of the team. The only other time the Maple Leafs had the top pick was in 1985, when they selected Wendel Clark, who was traded to the Quebec Nordiques for Sundin in 1994.

Perhaps the biggest question entering the offseason is whether Matthews, who has two seasons remaining on the four-year, $53 million contract he signed on Aug. 25, 2023, has the appetite to stay in Toronto, especially if the incoming management team opts to go in the direction of a complete rebuild.

Chayka said on Monday that one of his first priorities is to meet with Matthews, who the Maple Leafs obviously want to retain. Having the No. 1 pick now certainly will help the general manager’s pitch.

“The nice part is, I can answer honestly, we haven't had scouting meetings yet,” Chayka said. “... We will get together and go through everything as we should, be super diligent and make sure we know everything.

“I'd say there's a lot of diligence when you are picking first overall to make sure you nail it.”

If they don’t, the naysayers will be back again in these parts, in full force.

But until that happens, until Chayka and Sundin step to the podium in Buffalo to announce the pick in seven weeks, there is optimism surrounding a team from a city that didn’t have much of it not so long ago.