"After carving up the ice with the Medicine Hat Tigers and establishing himself as the likely top prize of the 2026 NHL draft lottery, the kid from the Yukon moved to the Big Ten, where he was expected to play one impressive year before signing with whichever bad pro team got the luckiest. He's a little on the small side, though he literally just turned 18,"
"At Penn State, however, there's been a bit of an adjustment in expectations. McKenna's picked up four goals and 14 assists across 16 games, so he's certainly having a very good season by most standards. But there are new questions about how much McKenna can impact the game when he's not working magic with possession, and against the toughest competition that the NCAA can muster-namely Michigan and Michigan State-he's suffered through some outright bad nights."
Gavin McKenna is an 18-year-old winger from the Yukon who dominated with the Medicine Hat Tigers and entered Penn State as a leading 2026 NHL draft prospect. He combines finesse skating, elite playmaking, and strong WHL production despite being relatively small. At Penn State he has four goals and 14 assists in 16 games, showing strong offensive output but raising concerns about his consistency without possession and his performance versus elite NCAA teams like Michigan and Michigan State. Other prospects such as Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg and defenseman Keaton Verhoeff are also under consideration. The World Juniors offer a larger evaluation stage.
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