BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — General Manager John Chayka and the Toronto Maple Leafs are on the clock in having the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft on Friday night, and with Penn State forward Gavin McKenna regarded as the top prospect.

For the newly hired Chayka, the selection provides him the next opportunity to help reshape one of the NHL’s marquee franchises, which suddenly is in transition following a last-place finish in the Atlantic Division. Chayka already has hired a new coach in Jim Hiller and last week acquired defenseman Darren Raddysh in a sign-and-trade deal with Tampa Bay.

Now, it’s a matter of restocking the Maple Leafs’ youth in the same downtown Buffalo arena where Toronto selected star Auston Matthews with the first pick in the 2016 draft.

McKenna is a prolific playmaking right winger from Whitehorse, Yukon. Among the other top prospects are Sweden left winger Ivar Stenberg, center Caleb Malhotra and a host of defensemen: Alberts Smits of Latvia, North Dakota’s Keaton Verhoeff and Chase Reid, the top-ranked U.S.-born prospect.

Barring trades, rounding out the top five selections are San Jose at No. 2, followed by Vancouver, Buffalo and the New York Rangers.

Buffalo Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen says that teams have been calling about the possibility of trading for the fourth overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, and the team is listening to offers and weighing all of their options.

The Sabres acquired that pick in a trade that sent defenseman Bowen Byram and forward Jordan Greenway to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. The Sabres now have six picks in Friday’s draft, which is being held in Buffalo.

Kekäläinen said the goal with all of their draft picks is to get better as a team, whether it be by drafting new prospects, or packaging the picks together and making another trade.

The Sabres also dealt Alex Tuch to the Washington Capitals in a sign-and-trade deal with the Capitals revealing Buffalo signed Tuch to an eight-year, $84 million contract before sending him to Washington. In return, the Sabres acquired 31-year-old center David Kampf and a third-round pick in the 2027 draft.

The Sabres also recently acquired the 20th overall pick in the draft from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for the 27th pick and defenseman Michael Kesselring.