Felony Charge Against Penn State Hockey Star Gavin McKenna Dropped

We got some stunning news this week that the prospective No. 1 pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, Penn State's Gavin McKenna, was facing some serious charges stemming from an incident in State College.

However, now, the most serious of those charges has been dropped.

McKenna is accused of punching a man, breaking his jaw, during a night out, just hours after the Nittany Lions hosted the Michigan State Spartans at Beaver Stadium.

According to WJAC, an "exchange of words" between the victim's group and McKenna's group led to the 18-year-old hockey star allegedly punching the victim in the face twice, causing multiple jaw fractures that required surgery.

This led to McKenna being slapped with a felony aggravated assault charge that could carry some serious prison time.

However, that charge has now been dropped.

The heftiest charge levied against Penn State's Gavin McKenna has been dropped. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)

This is because, upon review of the video of the incident, the Centre County District Attorney's office and the State College Police Department agreed that there wasn't enough evidence to pursue that charge as McKenna "did not act with the intent to cause serious bodily harm nor did he recklessly act with extreme indifference to the value of human life."

McKenna is still facing a misdemeanor simple assault charge and summary offenses of disorderly conduct and harassment.

Having the biggest charge dropped is big news for McKenna and for the Nittany Lions. The team has not played since the outdoor game against Michigan State, a loss in overtime.

The Nittany Lions' next games are on February 13 and 14 on the road against the Michigan Wolverines.

It's unclear what impact the incident will have on McKenna's draft stock, but getting that big charge dropped should mean it will have less of an impact.

Through 24 games this season, McKenna has 32 points with 11 goals and 21 assists.