Washington Capitals prospect Lynden Lakovic continues to maintain his close friendship with Toronto Maple Leafs winger Gavin McKenna, and the two are spending this summer training together in Kelowna, British Columbia.

Lakovic and McKenna first met as pre-teens when they were playing hockey in the Kelowna area and have stayed close ever since. Even when their junior careers took them to different Western Hockey League cities, they continued to be seen together frequently on social media this offseason.

They even made a TikTok dance video and met at a celebrity golf event in Calgary.

Lakovic was selected in the first round of the 2025 draft by Washington and explained how the friendship started. "We met when he moved to Kelowna when he was 12 and played together for two years," Lakovic said as per Russian Machine Never Breaks.

"We stayed friends since he went to Medicine Hat and I went to Moose Jaw. He trains here in the summers, so we hang out with each other every day and are best friends. We're always together, no matter if that's skating, working out, or just hanging out."

Before the start of their junior careers, the pair were actually teammates, playing together for Kelowna-based programs. That was Pursuit of Excellence and RINK Hockey Academy in a youth hockey league as teenagers. 

Lakovic is also working on making a comeback from a season-ending upper-body injury. He even went through surgery in December after he had led the WHL in goals.

He recovered well and even added some muscle since last summer, all set to go pro. He's expected to open the 2026-27 season with the AHL's Hershey Bears.

McKenna's path to Toronto

McKenna is a left-wing player from Whitehorse, Yukon. He was selected first overall by the Maple Leafs on June 27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.  He went on to become the fifth NCAA player ever taken with the top pick and the first since Macklin Celebrini in 2024. 

The Pop star and longtime Leafs fan, Justin Bieber, announced the selection, saying McKenna’s name on the podium.

McKenna spent this past season at Penn State and led with 51 points in 35 games. He even finished as a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. Before college, he played in the WHL with Medicine Hat and even won the Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year.

McKenna is expected to jump straight into Toronto this fall. He will be joining a forward group that includes players like Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares, while Lakovic continues working toward his own debut in the NHL through the Capitals' development camp.

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Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason