Toronto had an 8.5 percent chance to secure the first overall pick, and now they have an interesting choice to make.
As the Toronto Marlies attempted to dig themselves out of an early deficit against the Laval Rocket on Tuesday night, the rest of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization was celebrating.
Minutes into Game 4 of the second-round series, the Marlies were trailing the Rocket 1-0. A quick car ride down the Gardiner Expressway, Mats Sundin and John Chayka were sitting, hoping the Maple Leafs got lucky and won the NHL's draft lottery.
As the final lottery ball was removed from the machine and shown as "12" — the final number Toronto needed to secure the first overall pick — the entire city nearly erupted, including those inside Coca-Cola Coliseum taking in the Marlies game.
Fans cheered as the Maple Leafs achieved what has only happened twice before in the organization's history. Toronto picked Auston Matthews with the first pick in 2016, and Wendel Clark with the first pick way back in 1985.
Both panned out pretty good, didn't they?
Maple Leafs and Marlies management also briefly celebrated as they watched the team win the NHL Draft Lottery on a TV within their Coca-Cola Coliseum suite.
Moments later, the Marlies' game presentation staff placed a first-overall pick graphic on the Jumbotron.
And then you could hear the "We want McKenna!" chants filtering through the crowd.
Even current Maple Leafs, Matthew Knies and William Nylander, who attended the Marlies game on Tuesday, reacted to the news in real time.
It was a moment of excitement for everyone, inside and outside the organization, following a turbulent day on Monday when the Maple Leafs unveiled Chayka and Sundin as the new key figures at the helm of the team.
The Marlies fell to the Rocket 4-0 in Tuesday's Game 4, setting up a do-or-die Game 5 in Laval on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET.
There wasn't much to discuss after the game, given the scoreline. But Marlies head coach John Gruden shared his excitement about the Maple Leafs winning the first-overall selection when asked about it post-game.
"I think it's best for the league that Toronto has that number-one pick. It's just a better situation," he said. "That was the only good news coming out of the first period for me."
Two players sit atop the 2026 draft class that could make sense for Toronto: Gavin McKenna, out of Penn State University, and Sweden's Ivar Stenberg, who played for Frolunda of the Swedish Elite League this season.
In the next month or so, there'll be plenty of discussion amongst the Maple Leafs front office and the team's scouting staff about who to pick with the number-one selection.
"I think it's a strong draft. The first round is really strong, and Ivar has had a strong season, from the World Juniors [on], so it's going to be really great," Sundin said on Tuesday night of Stenberg.
"An exciting player," Chayka said moments later of McKenna. "I've tracked him for a number of years now and the skill level, the creativity, the puck ability, and then his shot and release is all pretty special."
Whoever the Maple Leafs go with, whether it's McKenna or Stenberg, they will be pretty set up for the future, even beyond the Auston Matthews era.
"It's a strong draft," Sundin continued, "so it's going to be interesting looking at these different players now, and knowing it's a first-overall pick, so it'll be a lot of work ahead for us."