Is Gavin McKenna's Rookie Contract the Biggest In NHL History?

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Gavin McKenna to a three-year, entry-level contract on Friday after selecting him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

According to contract details first reported by The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, McKenna’s deal includes base salaries of $1.025 million, $1.075 million and $1.125 million over three seasons.

The contract also includes up to $1 million in Schedule A bonuses and $2.5 million in Schedule B bonuses each season. That gives McKenna a potential maximum value of roughly $13.725 million over three years if he hits every bonus.

Knowing that, McKenna will not be the highest-paid rookie in NHL history in the cleanest sense, but the Maple Leafs’ No. 1 overall pick is now near the top of the modern entry-level contract era.

McKenna's contract is surely massive for a rookie under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, given he got the maximum base salary allowed, as well as the maximum bonuses attached to it.

That said, McKenna's deal is not directly comparable to the NHL’s pre-salary-cap era, when top prospects had far more leverage and rookie contracts were not as tightly controlled.

The cleanest historical ranking of top-earning rookies looks like this:

• 1. Eric Lindros (1992): five years, $22 million guaranteed with the Philadelphia Flyers. This remains the standard for the largest rookie contract in NHL history.
• 2. Gavin McKenna (2026): three years, $13.725 million maximum value with the Maple Leafs if all bonuses are earned.
• 3. Alexandre Daigle (1993): five years, $12.25 million with the Ottawa Senators.
• 4. Alexander Ovechkin (2005): three years, $11.5 million maximum value with the Washington Capitals.
• 5. Sidney Crosby (2005): three years, $11.1 million maximum value with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005.

McKenna can be framed as one of the highest-paid rookies in NHL history by maximum potential value, and the biggest earner (assuming he lands all the bonus money) of the modern capped entry-level era.

However, Lindros remains the true all-time leader and can be considered a legitimate outlier because his rookie deal came before the system changed and will likely never get replicated unless another major change happens to the CBA.

McKenna enters the NHL after scoring 15 goals and assisting on 36 more during his 35 games as a freshman at Penn State last season.