The 2026 NHL Draft Lottery was held on Tuesday evening, and for the Toronto Maple Leafs, it was just the latest chapter in what was a season of upheaval and change for them.
The Maple Leafs won the Draft Lottery, 10 years after they last won and used the first overall selection to pick Auston Matthews. Now, the Maple Leafs, who missed the playoffs for the first time since earlier that spring, will have the chance to select another potential generational talent with the first overall pick.
However, the announcement that the Maple Leafs won the Draft Lottery has been met with near overwhelming disapproval from non-Toronto fans.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Won The 2026 NHL Draft Lottery, And Fans Are Fuming
While Maple Leafs fans everywhere are understandably thrilled with the results of the Draft Lottery, fans of opposition teams aren’t sharing in that joy. In fact, many are questioning the legitimacy of the Draft Lottery results.
“Toronto has one bad year after a string of cup contending teams and win the number one pick lmao what a joke of a league. We all called this months ago when the obvious tank was taking place,” one fan decried.
This fan wrote, “You mean thank you Bettman. There live stream just “happened to glitch” right when the ball dropped eh. Can’t let the league’s largest revenue drop, y’all need to subsidize Ottawa and Seattle.”
Another fan referenced the rumors of Matthews potentially leaving Toronto, saying, “Rumors of Matthews wanting out of Toronto all day and this happens? Absolutely rigged. What a disgrace this happens this way.”
Keeping in that vein, this fan wrote, “What a coincidence….the same day Auston Matthews says if the team doesn’t draft well and make good roster moves in the offseason, he is out…. Lmao.”
And again: “Gotta be rigged. The Leafs are imploding and Matthews signalling hes not coming back. NHL is gifting them their Matthews replacement. It is the EXACT same thing that happened with the Mavs. Luka gets traded and they are handed The #1 draft pick.”
Finally, this fan exclaimed, “lmao, a day after the disaster at that press conference and the same day a report comes out that Matthews might not be back in TOR and they somehow won the lottery…. why dont you just telegraph how rigged this always is. at this point its practically WWE.”
Will The Maple Leafs Select Gavin McKenna With The First Overall Pick?
Now that the Maple Leafs officially now hold the right to select with the top pick in the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft, many are speculating on whether Penn State Nittany Lions forward Gavin McKenna will be the the name selected by new Leafs general manager John Chayka.
McKenna, who is widely believed to be the consensus first overall pick, scored 15 goals with 36 assists in 35 games with Penn State this season, and also represented Canada in the under-20 World Junior Championships, scoring four goals with seven assists in seven games played.
He spent 2024-25 with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, tallying 41 goals and 88 assists in 56 games, followed by nine goals and 29 assists in 16 playoff games.
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