Big Move for Gavin McKenna, Who Picks Penn State Over WHL

Summary:

• Projected 2026 NHL top draft pick Gavin McKenna leaves the WHL to join Penn State.
• The 17-year-old totalled 129 points last season and was named WHL Player of the Year.
• McKenna thinks the NCAA will give him the chance to win and develop physically against older competition.

Gavin McKenna admitted college hockey wasn’t something he followed much growing up in the Yukon, as Western Canada had plenty of junior action to keep his attention. However, when he watched Penn State’s run to the Frozen Four last year, he saw something that stuck.

Seeing what these guys did last year, making it to the Frozen Four, that was a big influence on me. I wanted to come to a winning team and I thought this was the spot.

That choice sent ripples through the hockey world this summer. In July, McKenna surprised many by leaving the Western Hockey League, which counts 22 Member Clubs spread across Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific, and committing to Penn State, joining head coach Guy Gadowsky’s program.

It’s an important move for one of hockey’s brightest prospects, who, at just 17, is already considered a top pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Last season, he piled up 129 points in 56 games with Medicine Hat, earning WHL Player of the Year honors and leading the Tigers to both the league championship and the Memorial Cup final. In three years with the Tigers, he recorded 244 points.

Head Coach Gadowsky: “He’s Here to Enhance”

Now, he steps into a Penn State lineup that already returns its top six scorers. Guy Gadowsky believes McKenna’s presence is about elevating what’s already in place.

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. He’s here to enhance that, not change that.

McKenna is one of several Canadian Hockey League players making the jump to the NCAA this season, after a rule change lifted restrictions on CHL players joining U.S. college programs. 

For him, that means leaving home and adjusting to life more than 3,000 miles from Whitehorse. His teammates and coaches describe him as easygoing, but his skill set has already made an impression.

He does think the game differently. He’s a different animal when it comes to that. Not only compared to any other freshman, compared to anybody.

The challenge now is adjusting to older, stronger competition.

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

McKenna knows the step up won’t be easy, but he sees the upside. “Less games, more time in the gym,” he said. “I’m not a big guy, so I want to put on weight and that was part of the reason I came here”/

And, of course, to win.

“It’s going to be an exciting year for us, definitely”, teammate Aiden Fink said.