(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Canada forward Gavin McKenna celebrates his first goal during first period IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship tournament action against Finland, Dec. 26, 2024, in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Gavin McKenna admits he didn’t watch a lot of college hockey growing up in Western Canada.
But the projected 2026 NHL draft’s top prospect saw enough last season to know he wanted to play for Penn State.
McKenna met with reporters Monday for the first time since shocking the hockey world in July by announcing his departure from the Western Hockey League to commit to Guy Gadowsky’s Nittany Lions.
“Seeing what these guys did last year, making it to the Frozen Four, that was a big influence on me,” McKenna said. “I wanted to come to a winning team and I thought this was the spot.”
The 17-year-old was already the main man for a winning program.
He finished second in the WHL with 129 points (41 goals, 88 assists) in 56 games last season and was the league’s player of the year. He led the Medicine Hat Tigers to the WHL championship and Memorial Cup finals.
In his three seasons for Medicine Hat, McKenna had 79 goals and 165 assists.
Now he aims to provide even more scoring and playmaking for the Nittany Lions who return their top six scorers from last season’s squad that fell a game short of playing for an NCAA title.
“It’s continuing on where we left off and I think Gavin was really adamant about that when coming in and talking about the reasons why,” Gadowsky said. “He’s here to enhance that, not change that.”
McKenna is joined by new teammates Lev Katzin, Luke Misa and Shea Van Olm, and defensemen Jackson Smith and Nolan Collins who are among the nearly 325 CHL players who have committed to Division I college programs this year.
The NCAA lifted its ban on CHL players in November, paving the way for McKenna and other CHL players — previously considered professionals because they received stipends for living expenses — to defect to the NCAA ranks.
McKenna, living on his own for the first time nearly 3,500 miles from his home in Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon Territory, has already made a strong first impression on his coaches and teammates.
Gadowsky said McKenna, is a “chill, great hang” while team captain Dane Dowiak called him a normal guy who “just wants to win.”
They’ve all been mesmerized by the winger’s hockey IQ, speed and ability to think and react before defenders can get a bead on him.
“He does think the game differently,” Gadowsky said. “He’s a different animal when it comes to that. Not only compared to any other freshman, compared to anybody.”
But there are areas where the phenom will be tested, Gadowsky said.
Notably, McKenna goes from being one of the older players in the WHL where players as young as 15 can suit up, to one of the youngest in the NCAA ranks.
“He’s going to be playing against guys eight years older that have been lifting weights in a very structured environment for a long time,” Gadowsky said. “Don’t forget, he’s 17 so there is going to be a transition process, there really is.”
McKenna is counting on it.
“I think there’s a lot less time and space,” McKenna said. “The guys are bigger, faster, older. It’s not too different in terms of skill and stuff. Obviously both leagues are very skilled and guys can make plays, but in terms of speed and size, I think that’s the biggest difference.”
Listed at 6-foot, 170 pounds, McKenna said he considered the length of the NCAA season a positive and negative when making his decision.
A negative because he loves the game and wants to play as much as possible. Even with a postseason run, Penn State played 40 games last year. McKenna skated in more than 60 games each of the last two seasons with Medicine Hat.
The positive? He’ll have some time to develop physically for what comes after his time in Happy Valley.
“I’m itching to play games,” McKenna said. “With that though, that’s a reason I came here is because less games, more time in the gym. I’m not a big guy, so I want to put on weight and that was part of the reason I came here.”
And to win.
Aiden Fink, the team’s leading scorer last season with 23 goals and 30 assists, is looking forward to skating with McKenna and is ready for the extra attention on the program.
“It’s going to be an exciting year for us, definitely,” Fink said.
