Forward Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, will play for Penn State next season, he announced on ESPN’s ‘SportsCenter’ on July 8.
McKenna, who has the same pre-draft hype as 2023 No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard, is switching to college hockey after being named the Canadian Hockey League player of the year in 2024-25. The 17-year-old was the third youngest to win the award, behind Sidney Crosby and John Tavares.
The 6-foot, 165-pounder had 41 goals, 88 assists and 129 points last season with the Medicine Hat (Alberta) Tigers and went to the CHL’s Memorial Cup final. He has played three seasons in the Western Hockey League and had 97 points in 2023-24.
A recently approved NCAA rule change allows CHL players to play college hockey for the first time this season. They previously had been prohibited.
Landing McKenna is big news for Penn State, which went to the Frozen Four for the first time last season before falling in the semifinals to Boston University.
If McKenna goes No. 1 as expected, he’d be the third college hockey player in five years to be taken first, following Boston University’s Macklin Celebrini (San Jose Sharks) in 2024 and Michigan’s Owen Power (Buffalo Sabres) in 2021.
‘While the term ‘generational talent’ is thrown around far too loosely these days, if it doesn’t apply to McKenna, then it should never apply to anyone,’ said Kyle Woodlief, publisher and chief scout for Red Line Report. ‘His gifts are so special, it’s hard to find the superlatives to adequately describe them. He is so phenomenal that he might just instantly transform whichever team gets to draft him next June.’
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