The presumed No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft is set to take his talents to the NCAA.
Gavin McKenna is expected to commit to Penn State for the 2025-26 season, sources confirmed to Sportsnet on Monday.
Jordan Schmaltz was first to report the news, followed shortly by Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects.
The 2024 CHL Player of the Year would make the jump to the NCAA following a rule change allowing CHL players to play U.S. college hockey beginning next season.
McKenna spent last season with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers and led the team to an appearance in the Memorial Cup Final against the London Knights.
The native of Whitehorse, Yukon, finished the 2024–25 campaign with 129 points (41 goals, 88 assists) in 56 games, riding a 40-game point streak that he extended to 54 games during the WHL Playoffs — a modern CHL record (since 2000) for longest single-season point streak across the regular season, playoffs and Memorial Cup.
McKenna is the third youngest player to be named CHL Player of the Year, behind only Sidney Crosby and John Tavares, who both won the award at the age of 16.
McKenna is far from the first CHL star to make the move to the NCAA after the new rule was introduced.
Cayden Lindstrom, McKenna's Medicine Hat teammate and a top Columbus Blue Jackets prospect, recently confirmed his commitment to Michigan State.
Michigan also has landed several top CHL commitments, including 2025 NHL first-round draft prospect Malcolm Spence and Calgary Flames prospect Henry Mews.
Penn State, which entered the NCAA Division I hockey ranks in 2012-13, reached the Frozen Four for the first time this year.
Earlier this off-season, Penn State landed a commitment from Tri-City Americans defenceman Jackson Smith, who was picked 14th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in this year’s NHL Draft. Brampton Steelheads forward Luke Misa, a Calgary Flames prospect, is another Penn State CHL commit.
While Penn State has not announced its 2024-25 schedule, Arizona State has announced it will host Penn State for two games on Oct. 3-4, traditionally the first weekend of the NCAA schedule.
Clarkson has announced it will play two games at Penn State, Oct. 9-10.
