"We've Gone Through Similar Things": Gavin McKenna Went To Connor Bedard For Advice

The Chicago Blackhawks are very unlikely to end up with Gavin McKenna. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery, and they are likely going to take the former Medicine Hat Tigers and Penn State star forward. 

Even if Toronto did pass on him, he is not likely to make it past both the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks at second or third before the Blackhawks come up to pick at four. 

However, McKenna will always have a connection to the Blackhawks. For one, he grew up a fan of the team. He is not from Chicago, but his favorite team to watch in his youth was the Blackhawks as they were making deep runs in the 2010s. 

McKenna is also a distant cousin through marriage and a friend of Blackhawks superstar Connor Bedard. Being teammates would only make them closer, but it doesn’t seem like that is going to happen. 

Early in the season, long before anyone had even the slightest clue where McKenna would end up, he texted Connor Bedard for advice. This is his thought on the exchange, as described by him at the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo on Friday:

"We’ve gone through similar things with media and the pressure,” McKenna said. “He’s always a brain I like to go to. He’s always been open to advice, and he’s always given it to me. He just tells me to trust the process and stay confident. Sometimes it’s hard, but hockey is a big confidence game."

These are strong words from Bedard, who likely learned these things after playing in the league for a few years. The team hasn’t done a lot of winning with him there yet, but he’s had great leaders around him like Nick Foligno, Pat Maroon, and Alec Martinez. 

Bedard already sounds like a captain, and he hasn’t even been given the “C” yet. McKenna won’t be the last guy that Bedard helps along in the coming years, whether he is on the same team as them or not. 

It was an up-and-down season for McKenna as he made the transition from the OHL to NCAA Hockey. He didn’t dominate offensively the way he would at Medicine Hat, but he handled the stiffer competition, especially in the second half of the season.

McKenna will be given a chance to play in the NHL right away. If he listens to Bedard’s words and applies those words to his own skills, it will be an incredibly bright future. 

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