The Toronto Maple Leafs winning the 2026 Draft Lottery is a big advantage as they're going to insert Gavin McKenna (or someone else) into their lineup as soon as next season as some sort of big offensive boost. All for just being very bad this past season.
But, despite this win, it's not going to solve the massive glaring problem with their other first-overall draft pick.
Maple Leafs winning 2026 Draft Lottery doesn't solve everything
On OverDrive Tuesday, the question was asked about Auston Matthews and what the Maple Leafs can do to convince him to stay and potentially sign a contract extension next summer. Is McKenna enough for the star center to commit long-term? But what about signing top free agent Alex Tuch this summer as another injection of talent?
Well, it's not so simple.
Would Auston Matthews stay with the Maple Leafs even if they draft Gavin McKenna?@mike_p_johnson on Matthews' future connection with McKenna on the team#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/DLBLCl0ytf
— OverDrive (@OverDrive1050) May 12, 2026
After joking about a third option, Johnson dove into whether or not getting McKenna (or signing Tuch) will keep Matthews in Toronto.
"I don't know if either one really moves the needle on its own," Johnson said. "Gavin McKenna won't be as good as Alex Tuch next year. Gavin McKenna will be much better than Alex Tuch in three years. So, I don't know how that factors into Auston Matthews's calibration about what he wants to do.
"I'm guessing that Auston's view on the Leafs is, in its entirety, what the team feels like, not just one player or one player that is going to play with me in lieu of what Mitch used to do. But, also, what we're going to do on defense, who our coach is going to be, what system are we going to plan -- it's the entire package that he will be evaluating, not just, 'Hey, we got you a good winger. Are we good to go?' And I don't think that's enough for Auston Matthews to go 'I'm going to stay and I'm going to sign a contract extension here'. He wants to see a more complete view."
And that makes perfect sense.
Matthews isn't so dumb to think that adding any one, single player would be enough of a sign for him to potentially spend the rest of his career in Toronto with the Leafs. It's about seeing the entire plan come into place. Add young talent like McKenna, completely revitalize the blue line, make another trade or two, and possibly change the coach; and then we can maybe start thinking about him sticking around.
Pen cannot be put to paper for over a year from now for a long-term contract extension, but maybe the noise can calm down if Matthews sees new general manager John Chayka turn words into action.
Add us as a preferred source on Google