Top NHL Prospect Gavin McKenna Announces College Decision

We just wrapped up the 2025 NHL Draft late last month, but all eyes are already on the 2026 Draft, and that's largely because of Gavin McKenna, the player widely considered to be the clear-cut No.1 in next year's class.

The 17-year-old spent last season with the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers — his third with the team — and dropped an unreal 129 points (41G, 88A) in 56 games. He also played for Team Canada in the IIHF World Junior Championship.

However, thanks to a new decision from the NCAA, players with major junior experience in the CHL (which is made up of the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL) are now eligible to make the jump to college hockey.

Several players have already announced plans to do this, but McKenna is without a doubt the biggest fish, and you can bet that he had some serious interest from programs, even though he may only play one season in college before going pro.

Michigan State had some buzz early on a potential landing spot, but the Penn State Nittany Lions — fresh off of the program's first Frozen Four appearance this spring — picked up some heat.

This week, there were reports that McKenna was headed to Happy Valley, but he made it official on Tuesday night's edition of Sportscenter (that's how big of a deal he is; we got offseason hockey talk on ESPN?!).

McKenna's choice?

That's right, he's headed to Penn State, and the Nittany Lions are now going to have even more eyes on them than they would have already had based on their strong campaign last season.

But, if you're not familiar with McKenna's body of work and are more of an "eye-test" person than just looking at some stats, here's a nice, long sizzle reel of what he's bringing to Hockey Valley.

Yes, Hockey Valley.

Yeah. He's good.