The 2026 NHL Draft got underway on Friday night at KeyBank Center in Buffalo — home of the Buffalo Sabres — and while drafts usually provide their share of surprises, the first overall pick was not one.

The Toronto Maple Leafs “earned” the top pick after an abysmal 2025-26 campaign, and they used it to select Penn State star Gavin McKenna.

The 18-year-old from Whitehorse, Yukon, has been the presumptive top dog in the 2026 NHL Draft class for years at this point.

TOP NHL PROSPECT GAVIN MCKENNA CHARGED WITH ASSAULT IN DOWNTOWN PENN STATE INCIDENT, COURT DOCUMENT SHOWS

The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Penn State’s Gavin McKenna with the first-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

However, despite new Leafs GM John Chayka meeting with McKenna at his home, the team was tight-lipped about their decision.

But, in the end, he was always going to be the guy to hear his name called first this year, just not before Justin Bieber made an awkward announcement.

Maybe don’t skip the run-through next time, Biebs.

Nonetheless, the pick stands: Gavin McKenna is a Toronto Maple Leaf.

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The Leafs certainly have some needs to address. Their goaltending is questionable (though that’s difficult to fix quickly through the draft), and the blue line could use some added size. This draft featured several players who could have helped in that regard, including Albert Smits out of Europe and Chase Reid of the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

But, in the end, McKenna is the kind of ultra-talented player you take regardless of your needs.

He posted 51 points (15G, 36A) in just 35 games at Penn State last season, so even if he’s not a top-line winger, he’s going to help fill out the Leafs’ second or third lines very nicely.

Gavin McKenna (left) poses with singer Justin Bieber, who announced the Toronto Maple Leafs’ pick. ((Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images))

McKenna’s going to have to make an impact quickly as the team looks to turn things around in a hurry under new coach Jim Hiller, and he’ll have to do it under pressure.

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But he can handle it. He’s dealt with tons of attention so far in his career, and even some considerable off-ice distractions to throw down a solid freshman season and set himself up nicely to be the No. 1 pick.

After McKenna, the San Jose Sharks selected Sweden’s Ivar Stenberg with the No. 2 pick, while the Vancouver Canucks used the No. 3 pick on Caleb Malhotra, son of ex-NHLer and current Canucks coach Manny Malhotra.

The plans of incoming boss Maresca and how City intend to replace some modern-day greats feature in this week’s list of questions.

Following the signing of Elliot Anderson, could the club still pursue another midfielder? Are players like Nico Paz, Ayyoub Bouaddi, or Felix Nmecha on the radar, despite their different profiles and positions? (Jim)

Hi Jim, yes the club could absolutely move for another midfielder. As we’ve reported, Sandro Tonali is one of the players that they have been looking at that was seen as in addition to Elliot Anderson rather than instead of him. City’s midfield is still a puzzle that needs sorting this summer and there could be several moving pieces so Hugo Viana has to be alive to pouncing for at least another midfielder. That doesn’t mean they definitely will sign one but it has been on the radar for a while.

In terms of the names you mention, Nico Paz looks to be unavailable given Real Madrid’s ownership of him. Felix Nmecha has been linked to City before because of his history coming through the academy, although as far as I’m aware he isn’t a player of interest to the Blues. That leaves Ayyoub Bouaddi, who is increasing his burgeoning reputation at the World Cup with dark horses Morocco.

At 18, Bouaddi is an exciting young talent and City will have been aware of him for some time given their scouting presence in France, but there are also warning signs that this could be a classic auction engineered for the best clubs to bid against each other – especially if Bouaddi impresses even more this summer and those aren’t the situations City like to get themselves into.

Since Omar Marmoush’s form has fallen below Man City standards now, is there a likelihood of him going out on loan or transfer? City need good support for Erling Haaland. (Obi Ojechi)

Marmoush is another interesting player to watch at the World Cup. He had a year that frustrated both himself and the team, with memories of his excellent start fading fast as he struggled to push Erling Haaland for a place in the team. It can be a thankless task to be deputy to the best No.9 in the world and there is a shelf life, so this is a summer where Marmoush and City both have to consider what is best and the World Cup could tip the balance in terms of clubs making offers.

It is of course entirely plausible though that Marmoush stays, and City aren’t actively looking for a replacement as they prioritise other areas of the pitch. City and Marmoush can’t afford the next season to be like the last one, but with other changes and a new coach there are plenty of reasons to suggest it can be different if there is willing on both sides.

Will the new manager give more access to the first team to academy players? (Martin P)

Hi Martin, it’s an interesting question in as much as I’m not sure if the suggestion is that Pep Guardiola did or did not give access. They were physically in another building, but were also more involved in training than many youth teams at other top clubs and there were plenty of minutes given to homegrown players.

Maresca will obviously have a big interest in the academy but you suspect he will also like having experienced players to count on given his frustrations at Chelsea. I think if Maresca continues with a similar approach to Guardiola that would suit nearly everyone.

Hi Simon, if City end up selling several homegrown players this summer, could that influence the club’s recruitment strategy? Do you think future transfer targets will be more focused on homegrown players to help maintain the squad registration requirements? Thanks! Alfa

Ah, the dreaded quotas. We wrote about this a few days ago, although I do think while it is obviously something that needs to be taken into consideration it usually all works out in the end. As far as association-trained players go the fact that Elliot Anderson, Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi have come in works for City but it is the club-trained players that are the issue – especially if, as you suggest, James Trafford and Rico Lewis leave.

One of the reasons these things have rarely been a problem under Guardiola is that the manager preferred small squads, so we will see if there are changes with Maresca. There is Nico O’Reilly and Phil Foden to bank on though, and then you wonder if being homegrown could help a few academy players to earn spots on the fringes of the squad as opposed to those who wouldn’t be eligible; it won’t have a major say though.

Is the club looking to sign a right-back this summer? If so, are there any names being discussed? Is Givairo Read a player the club are interested in? (Jim)

Hi Jim, yes as we’ve reported for a while now right-back is a position of interest and so is Givairo Read. I think the last week has been pretty telling in terms of where City are at with right-backs. They didn’t offer a strong challenge to Chelsea on Marco Palestra at around £45m and then had no interest in Malo Gusto at £75m.

For a while now, several people around the Etihad have spoken of Matheus Nunes as though it is his shirt to lose so he will be treated as the first choice right-back. Because of that, City want to push him but they won’t be wanting to spend a small fortune on someone who won’t be expected to come straight into the first team.

Paying a transfer record for Anderson, is it that there are no other alternatives or is he really worth that much? (Gildas)

Time will tell, Gildas. I think it’s a good price though, and a City record is very different from a British record. You have to ask yourself how much Bernardo Silva will cost to replace, and how much multiple Premier League teams – Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea in recent years – have been willing to pay for top midfielder players. It is the same ballpark as what City have paid for Anderson, who they think deserves to be counted in that bracket.

I’m willing to be very wrong but I think he will prove to be worth the money and a good value signing – but it needs time to assess it properly.

It’s the argument that tears the Anglophone world apart. There is so much uniting us all but how can we possibly see that until this most divisive of beefs has been squashed? How can I, a Brit, and you, based on our analytics likely a reader for America, ever see eye to eye if we cannot agree on what to call the world’s greatest sport? Football or soccer. It can only be one.

Or can it?

To really understand why everyone on my side of the Atlantic is so angry about this, we must first do some etymological investigation. Indiana Jones but with dictionaries. We know where football comes from, that all makes sense. There’s a football. There’s a ball. Apply one to the other and you have your sport.

Soccer though, what’s that all about? Well like all the best stories — Brideshead Revisited, Harry Potter, The Inbetweeners — the story of soccer is the story of the English education system. We will, however, have to come back to that after a potted tour through the social history of this sceptred isle from which I write. Now, some formative version of what we would come to know as football/soccer/futbol has been played in the country for centuries. 

If instead you’d like to explore the origins of soccer in America, “The Billion Dollar Goal” tells the story of U.S. soccer’s long road to relevance, culminating in the iconic 1989 strike that ended a 40-year World Cup drought and changed the sport in America, not to mention how the game came to be called soccer in America. Stream “The Billion Dollar Goal” now on Paramount+

Much credit for Cape Verde’s performances must go to coach Bubista, a former international himself who has been in charge since January 2020.

A stable coaching set-up has allowed the 56-year-old former centre-back to build a compact and well-drilled side with an organised defence, technical midfielders and gifted forwards who upset Ghana and drew with Egypt during a run to the quarter-finals at Afcon 2023, having only made their tournament debut 10 years earlier.

They may have had Vozinha to thank for the seven saves the veteran goalkeeper made in the goalless draw with Spain, but their discipline was underlined by the fact the Blue Sharks only conceded one foul against the 2010 champions – the fewest recorded by a team in a World Cup match since 1966.

“We always train and play as one unit, so everything we did in the game was not our first time that we did it,” defender Sidny Lopes Cabral told the BBC World Service.

“For us, it’s our game. This is how we play, this is who we are.

“This is our personality as a team and as defenders.”

Cape Verde took a more attacking and expansive approach in their second Group H outing against Uruguay, but also demonstrated their steely resolve by grabbing a second-half equaliser.

“More important than the result is to be able to show our identity as a team, our strength, our unity, and also our resilience,” Bubista said.

Bubista was recognised for his achievement in delivering World Cup qualification by being named the continent’s coach of the year for 2025 by the Confederation of African Football.

He has always believed that his side had the potential to mix it with the world’s elite.

“We have done really well considering how small our country is,” he told BBC Sport Africa before the 2021 Afcon, when the Blue Sharks reached the last 16.

“I think in the future we’ll be at the World Cup.”

That bold prediction has come to pass, and now Bubista hopes Cape Verde’s achievements at the expanded tournament can inspire other underdogs around the globe.

“I believe that football belongs to everyone, or is for everyone,” he said.

Now, the hard work begins.

The German national team will face Paraguay in the World Cup Round of 32 on Monday at 4:30PM EDT in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

While Germany ended the group stage with a loss to Ecuador, overall, it was a good showing in terms of results (how the team actually looked in games is up for debate). The Germans won the group and earned this draw against Group D’s surprise third place team.

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Prior to that defeat at the hands of Ecuador, Germany toasted Curaçao 7-1 and escaped with a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast.

For Paraguay, it was a shock entry into the knockouts as Türkiye flamed out horribly. Paraguay got smoked by the USMNT 4-1 in its opener before rebounding with a 1-0 win over the Turks and a 0-0 draw with Australia.

By virtue of those four points, Paraguay advanced.

Germany should be favored heavily vs. Paraguay. If the Germans advance, a matchup with France could be waiting in the Round of 16.

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WWE is now signing a huge new star who is seemingly going to be added to the Bloodline and may be involved with Roman Reigns. The signing has been a long time coming, with fans knowing that he has been on the horizon for some time, even though the signing itself had not happened yet.

WWE is signing a blockbuster new star who may become involved with Roman Reigns soon

A report from Fightful Select has revealed that WWE is currently set to sign a blockbuster new star. Zilla Fatu is on the horizon for a new WWE contract, with the current plan being to sign him if he has not already signed one. The star was at the WWE Performance Center recently and was going through the process to sign a new contract.

The star is only 26 years old and is the son of WWE legend Umaga. Prior to this signing, he had worked in Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling promotion, where he was one of the top names out there. There has been a lot of speculation surrounding WWE signing him for several years now, but it has only happened recently, as per the report. The star was a big name in House of Glory, holding titles there.

That star would also be the latest member of Roman Reigns’ Bloodline family tree to join the promotion. Very rarely has a Bloodline star been signed to the company and then not been involved with Roman Reigns in some shape or form. With Reigns recently reforming the Bloodline as well, he could be involved with the star very soon.

Of the Bloodline, Jacob Fatu, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, and Solo Sikoa are under contract now, and through extended non-blood family, Tama and Talla Tonga are involved as well. Now, Tama and Talla left Sikoa, so Zilla Fatu’s arrival may be part of the story, but it’s not confirmed.