Gavin McKenna, the early consensus choice for the first-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, has the hockey world buzzing about his potential at the game’s highest level. The 17-year-old has accomplished nearly everything an amateur hockey player can do. From winning CSSHL U18 MVP with an average of 2.88 points-per-game in 2022-23 to claiming the Four Broncos Trophy as the WHL’s Player of the Year, Mckenna has lit the hockey world on fire. Before McKenna’s next stop takes him to Pegula Ice Arena this fall, let’s review his hockey journey.
McKenna first flashed his potential with 11 points over six games for the BC Junior Canucks at the 2017 Brick Invitational alongside recent 2025 NHL draft picks Ben Kindel (11th overall) and Cameron Schmidt (94th overall). Schmidt’s 12 points finished second in scoring behind Michael Misa – who put up 18 points in six games for the 2017 Brick Invitational winner Toronto Bulldogs.
Two seasons later, ProHockey ‘07 (North America) – part of the 2019 12U World Selects Invitational – came calling and selected McKenna to join Jake O’Brien and Henry Brzustewicz. The team ended up taking the crown away from CSKA Moscow and Dynamo Moscow, the previous two winners of the tournament. McKenna tallied eight points in five games, placing him fourth on the list and behind O’Brien’s team-leading 15 points. Toronto’s entrant from ProHockey rolled through the event, going undefeated with a 5-0 record.
In 2019-20, McKenna lit up the scoreboard playing against older competition in the BC Zone U15 league, putting up 39 points in 20 games. That season was cut short as the world temporarily shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic caused McKenna’s CSSHL U15 season to be wiped out as well. When hockey resumed in 2021-22, Mckenna, who was 13-years-old at the time, amassed 65 points in 35 games while playing for RINK HA Kelowna U18 (CSSHL U18).
That same year, McKenna was invited to the 2022 World Selects Invitational U15 tournament where he finished second in tournament scoring with 22 points in nine games. His performance helped guide his team to a perfect 5-0 tournament. That is the second-best scoring mark in tournament history trailing only Ryan Roobroeck’s 28-point outburst in 2022.
The following season, after having already been granted exceptional status to join the WHL a year early, McKenna continued to put the hockey world on notice, posting 75 points in 26 games for SAHA U18 (CSSHL U18). McKenna joined the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers midway through the season and posted 18 points in 16 games, showing even one of the best junior hockey leagues in the world was not too difficult for him.
In his first full season in Medicine Hat, McKenna impressed with 97 points in 61 games. His performance saw him be selected as a WHL (Central) First Team All-Star and earned him the Jim Piggott Trophy as WHL Rookie of the Year. McKenna also helped Canada win gold at the U18 World Championship, posting 20 points in seven games alongside NHL prospects such as Porter Martone and Tij Iginla.
With all he achieved before, McKenna’s final season in the WHL last season was a true masterpiece. In a season that saw him put up 129 points and post the longest CHL point streak since 2000 (54 games), McKenna helped the Tigers dominate. The six-foot winger kept up his red-hot streak in the post-season, helping guide his team to a WHL championship and a trip to the Memorial Cup with 38 points in 16 games. He was named the CHL’s David Branch Player of the Year, the third-youngest recipient of the award, and it was clear to just about anyone that watched that McKenna was too good for the WHL.
“It means a lot,” McKenna said about winning the David Branch Award. “Going into the year, that was my goal. It’s pretty special to win that now, and I know my family will be proud. I don’t think you win an award like this without teammates and the guys around you. You obviously need them, and hockey is not a one-man sport. A lot of credit to those guys.”
With the newest changes to the transfer agreement between the CHL and the NCAA, many players are taking the opportunity (and the NIL money) to test their hockey skills in college for the 2025-26 season. McKenna will be one of those players, having announced his commitment to play for Penn State after lots of speculation. The Nittany Lions have made over the last little while, going on a run to the Frozen Four while also adding several big names like Jackson Smith and Luke Misa. Although these moves were big for the program., McKenna’s commitment is arguably the biggest athletic commitment the school has ever seen. No one knows the impact that McKenna could have.
If McKenna maintains a 2.30+ point-per-game average, he will challenge for the best NCAA season ever. That title currently belongs to Tony Hrkac, who in 1986-87, collected 116 points in 48 games. Only 12 players have ever eclipsed the 100-point barrier in the NCAA, with Paul Kariya being the most recent in 1992-93. Kariya also holds the record for points by a freshman with 100 points in 39 games.
Time will tell how McKenna will adjust to Penn State and the NCAA, but if he continues to thrive, NHL GMs will be falling over each other to select him at the 2026 NHL Draft. Even if he struggles in a more competitive environment, McKenna should still be one of the first names you hear called on draft night next summer.
by Christopher Babos
A multi-sport credentialed sports journalist, Chris is a hybrid lead writer for Philadelphia Sports Network, primarily covering the Philadelphia Flyers and Philadelphia Eagles. Additionally, he covers the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin’s quest for NHL history for The Hockey Writers. If Chris is not writing about hockey, he is probably watching it somewhere as a scout for the USPHL’s Hershey Cubs in the Philadelphia region.