Maple Leafs Prospects Headline The Athletic's Top 100: McKenna No. 1, Cowan at 70

Two Maple Leafs prospects crack The Athletic's top 100 — one at the very top

The Maple Leafs prospects pool does not run deep after a summer of graduations and trades, but it now owns the single most valuable name in it. Scott Wheeler's summer edition of The Athletic's top 100 NHL prospect rankings landed this week with Gavin McKenna at No. 1 overall and Easton Cowan slotted at No. 70. For a Toronto system that has thinned out at the margins, having the consensus best prospect in hockey on the list is the kind of anchor most rebuilds would trade a war chest for.

Wheeler's list is the industry standard for this kind of exercise, and the placements tell a clear story: Toronto's pipeline is top-heavy in the best possible way. One franchise-altering talent, one intriguing NHL-ready winger, and then a steep drop into projects and depth. That is the reality of winning a draft lottery and cashing it in on a generational prospect.

Gavin McKenna, No. 1 — and it isn't close

McKenna topping the list is not a surprise; it is a coronation. Wheeler has McKenna projecting as a first-line star winger and a dynamic power-play tactician — the exact profile Toronto envisioned when it made him the No. 1 overall pick. Being ranked first among all NHL prospects, not just draft-eligibles, means the evaluators view McKenna as more valuable than every prospect already in every other organization. That is the whole point of tanking a season and winning the lottery.

The on-ice case is straightforward. McKenna combines elite vision, a lethal shot and the kind of offensive creativity that translates to the power play immediately. We made the argument for why he belongs on the top unit from day one in our breakdown of why McKenna is PP1 material out of the gate, and Wheeler's "power-play tactician" framing lines up with that read.

The signature has been secured — McKenna is locked in on his entry-level contract — so this ranking is not about draft speculation anymore. It is about a 3-year window where Toronto controls the best young player in the sport at a bargain cap number. Maximizing that window is the single most important thing the franchise does over the next three seasons.

Easton Cowan, No. 70 — the NHL-ready wild card

Cowan checking in at No. 70, in Wheeler's fifth tier, is the more interesting projection because his development curve is further along. The 21-year-old is coming off a 29-point rookie season — 11 goals and 18 assists in 66 games — and, tellingly, he finished strong, piling up nine points across his final 15 games. That closing kick is the reason Toronto expects him to be a full-time NHL player in 2026-27 rather than a Marlies call-up.

A No. 70 ranking for a player who has already established himself in the NHL is a bit of a strange fit — prospect lists reward upside, and Cowan's remaining runway is shorter than most names around him. But the placement affirms that evaluators still see meaningful room to grow. We dug into his path earlier this month in our look at Cowan's full-time NHL job and top-six audition, and the ranking supports the idea that the ceiling is higher than a fourth-liner.

What the list says about the rest of the pipeline

Only two Maple Leafs making a 100-deep list is the honest signal here: Toronto's system is thin behind its headliners. That is partly by design — Chayka has spent the summer moving picks and prospects to reshape the NHL roster, and a retool that leans on veterans and one superstar rookie will not also stockpile a deep farm. The Marlies remain a strength, but organizational depth on a national top-100 is not where this franchise's advantage lives right now.

That is not necessarily a problem. We argued in our feature on the Calder Cup-winning Marlies that Toronto's real developmental edge is in turning mid-round and undrafted players into useful NHLers, not in hoarding blue-chip prospects. A top-100 list measures ceilings; the Marlies measure floors. Toronto is better at the second thing than the first, and for a team trying to win now around Matthews and Nylander, floors matter.

How McKenna's ranking changes Toronto's timeline

There is a strategic layer to owning the No. 1 prospect that goes beyond bragging rights. McKenna arrives on an entry-level contract at a fraction of what his production will be worth, and that cost certainty is the single most valuable thing a cap-strapped team can have. The Leafs are pressed against the ceiling with Matthews, Nylander and a re-shaped supporting cast; slotting in an elite offensive talent at an $950,000-range cap number is the kind of surplus value that wins you games you have no business winning on the balance sheet.

That is why the McKenna window matters so much. For three years, Toronto gets star-level upside at a bottom-of-the-roster price. Every dollar that buys back is a dollar the front office can spend elsewhere — on the blue line, on goaltending depth, on keeping the core intact. A retool that would otherwise look like a slow climb becomes a genuine contention window precisely because the best prospect in hockey is also one of the cheapest players on the team.

Why these rankings actually matter

Prospect rankings are not standings, but they carry weight in three concrete ways. They set trade value — McKenna at No. 1 is effectively an untouchable asset, and Cowan at No. 70 is a name other teams will ask about in any deadline conversation. They shape ice-time expectations — a top-100 ranking buys a young player patience from the coaching staff. And they influence the internal calculus on whether to rush or protect a prospect.

For Toronto specifically, the McKenna ranking is a reminder of the stakes. When you control the best prospect in hockey, every decision about his usage, his linemates and his development is magnified. Get it right and you have a decade of star-level production at your most valuable position. You can track where he and Cowan fit in the bigger roster picture on our players page.

What's next

The rankings are a snapshot; the season is the test. McKenna will spend training camp making the case that his No. 1 billing is not aspirational, and the early betting is that he opens the year in Toronto's top six — possibly alongside Auston Matthews. Cowan will fight to prove his No. 70 slot undersells him, with a full NHL season to do it.

For a fan base that has watched this club trade away its margins all summer, the top of Wheeler's list is the reassurance: the most important asset in the entire retool is exactly where it should be. Everything else — the depth, the draft capital, the second wave of prospects — is a secondary question. Toronto has the No. 1 prospect in hockey and three cheap years to build around him. That is the story this list tells, and it is a good one. For more on the incoming class behind McKenna, our draft hub tracks the full 2026 haul.