Steve Kouleas believes Maple Leafs can’t go wrong between Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg

The Toronto Maple Leafs are just over a month away from being on the clock to select first overall at the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

Host of the Power Play on Sirius XM NHL Network radio, Steve Kouleas, joined Leafs Morning Take with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill to give his thoughts on the two players leading the race to go first overall, the direction he feels the Maple Leafs should go, and who he thinks makes sense to be the team’s next head coach.

The debate since the Maple Leafs won the lottery on May 5 has been who the club will take at number one. The front-runners have long felt like Penn State forward Gavin McKenna and Frolunda HC forward Ivar Stenberg. Both players have impressed at different points throughout the season, and give the Maple Leafs a chance to select a player who could help change the direction of the franchise.

“At first look, Stenberg and McKenna are going to be players. Probably can’t get it wrong. Some people would rather go two, you go first, that way I’ll just take the next guy. That way, whoever wasn’t available, I took the next guy,” Kouleas said. “So these guys are going to be really good players, and I don’t think they can go wrong.”

The Maple Leafs slumped to a 32-36-14 record, finishing last in the Atlantic Division and 14th overall in the Eastern Conference. Following the firing of Brad Treliving, MLSE CEO, Keith Pelley, stated he didn’t believe a rebuild was necessary given to the generational players that the Maple Leafs’ roster currently holds.

The 2025-26 season saw 12 Eastern Conference teams finish with 90-plus points, leaving the Maple Leafs with a lot of ground to make up if they want to return to the postseason next season. While Pelley believes this season was just an aberration, Kouleas feels this club needs to consider heading down a different route.

“This Leafs team went to the bottom after having great regular seasons, and they couldn’t win because they had no Dougie [Gilmour] or Wendell [Clark]. Now they’ll reset and try it again, but to push this group forward to finish ninth or 10th, I don’t understand that strategy,” Kouleas said. “I don’t know how many teams they are better than, and they couldn’t beat the [New York] Rangers in a best-of-7 right now, and we know where the Rangers stand.”

After firing head coach Craig Berube on May 13, the search for who might be the next head coach of the Maple Leafs has been very quiet. University of Denver’s head coach, David Carle, has been floated, as well as former NHL coaches, including Dallas Eakins and Bruce Cassidy. Kouleas touched on who he believes could fit the highly coveted role in Toronto.

“The Cassidy, the [John] Tortorella, and the [Peter] Laviolette range wouldn’t come to Toronto, and why would they, because this is about power and control. A name I’ve thrown out is Jay Woodcroft. That’s the kind of hire you make if you are going to be rebuilding,” Couleas said. “Why would Bruce Cassidy come to the Maple Leafs, two years ago, different story. I think it’s going to be someone young who can relate to the players and is loyal to John Chayka for giving him an opportunity.”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply