It felt inevitable, but it’s been made official.

Penn State men’s hockey forward Gavin McKenna has inked an entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team announced on Friday.

Maple McKenna

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 3, 2026

McKenna was selected No. 1 overall by the Maple Leafs in last week’s 2026 NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo, where he’s since rubbed shoulders with Justin Bieber, thrown out the first pitch at a Toronto Blue Jays game, and participated in development camp. His contract is a three-year pact with $3.225 million guaranteed and up to $10.5 million in bonuses available

He became the program’s second-ever first-round pick and the first to be drafted directly from Penn State.

It’s all the culmination of what was a crazy year in Hockey Valley for McKenna, who finished his lone season at Penn State with 15 goals and 36 assists for 51 points in 35 games despite only recording four goals and 18 total points in 14 games through Thanksgiving weekend.

After winning bronze with Team Canada in the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships, McKenna returned to State College for the spring semester and was the best player in college hockey for the next three months, going on to win Big Ten Freshman of the Year and being named an All-American and Hobey Baker Award finalist.

He broke the program record with an eight-point game in February against Ohio State, had a hat trick against Wisconsin, and was the Big Ten’s scoring champion, all while navigating legal troubles down the stretch.

It was always viewed as a one-and-done year from McKenna, and this is the official send-off for one of the most influential players to ever put on the blue and white. He seems like a lock to start the 2026-27 season on the Maple Leafs’ roster, which would make him the fifth Nittany Lion to ever play in an NHL game come September.

The Whitehorse, Yukon, native is the fifth Nittany Lion to sign an entry-level contract since the team was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in March, joining Charlie Cerrato (Hurricanes), Matt DiMarsico (Avalanche), Kevin Reidler (Senators), and Aiden Fink (Predators), with several others joining professional hockey via PTOs.