The Kid from the Yukon Just Became the First Overall Pick in the NHL Draft

Three days ago in Buffalo, Justin Bieber walked on stage at the NHL Draft and announced the Toronto Maple Leafs’ first overall pick. The crowd heard the name Gavin McKenna, and an 18-year-old from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, became one of the most talked-about young athletes in the country.

Most people heard the name for the first time that night.

The story behind it started a long time before the draft.

Where He Came From

McKenna grew up in the city of Whitehorse in Yukon, the far northwest territory of Canada defined by dramatic wilderness. He spent most of his childhood outside: camping, dirt biking, snowmobiling, fishing.

On the hardest nights at Penn State University, when the rink felt too loud, and the criticism online felt even louder, Gavin McKenna would think about the Yukon. He would think about the cabin in the mountains, the one his grandfather Joe Mason built. He would think about the wolf and the moose, symbols of family and heritage.

McKenna is a citizen of the Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation. His roots are carved into his skin. On his right forearm is a tattoo of a cabin in the mountains in the Yukon Territory, a permanent reminder of where he came from and what got him through the hard moments.

His biggest mentor was his grandfather Joe, who instilled a competitive fire in him. His oldest sister Madison organizes hockey camps for First Nations youth, the same community that shaped them.

The Path to Number One

McKenna was the sixth-youngest player in men’s college hockey this season at Penn State. He was 17 years old when he played his first college game and heard boos from opposing fans before he ever touched the puck.

The reaction from fans was neither scattered nor subtle. “They were giving it to me,” McKenna said. “Anytime I touched the puck I’d hear the boos and hear the ‘overrated’ chants.” McKenna’s parents and grandparents had flown in and braved the crowd.

He smiled through it. He kept playing. He finished the season tied for fifth in the NCAA with 51 points in 35 games and became the first Penn State player ever to win the Big Ten scoring title. He set Penn State records for assists and points in a single season. His eight points in one game against Ohio State were the most in an NCAA Division I game in 39 years.

And then Patrick Kane texted him. The player he grew up watching on YouTube. The player he modeled his entire game after. “Patrick Kane texted me. He’s my idol, so that was cool,” McKenna said. “He’s who I grew up watching. I don’t know if it was all the YouTube highlights that made me play like him, but he’s someone I’ve always watched.”

The Bigger Story

The Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation hosted a watch party at its community center in Dawson City during the draft. Some attendees wore temporary tattoos with similar markings to the one McKenna has on his arm.

A whole community watching one of their own get called first.

Gavin remembers and acknowledges that. He knows he likely would not be where he is today if it was not for the community, the businesses in the community, and all the support. That is a big part of why he wants to give back.

That is the sentence that makes this a PlayersTV story. Not the draft position. Not the Penn State records. Not the Justin Bieber announcement. The fact that an 18-year-old kid from a small city in the Yukon, from a First Nations community that does not often see its own reflected on the biggest stages in sport, already understands that what he has been given comes with a responsibility.

He is just getting started. The community that raised him already knows what he is going to do with it.