Updated 6:37 p.m. July 8, 2025 following McKenna’s announcement.
In what’s been a transformative offseason for Penn State men’s hockey, head coach Guy Gadowsky has reeled in his biggest fish yet.
After a heated and contested recruiting battle, star Western Hockey League forward Gavin McKenna, the consensus No. 1 prospect for the 2026 NHL Draft, will has committed to Penn State. Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects first reported the news on Monday and McKenna officially announced his decision Tuesday night on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”
“It was a super tough decision. Obviously there’s a lot of great options out there, but me, my family and everyone who’s part of my circle, we all decided the best spot for me the next year will be Penn State University,” McKenna said.
“The main goal is obviously to win a championship. I think you kind of saw what Penn State did this year making it to the Frozen Four. They’ve come a long way and next year my goal is to win a championship with them.”
McKenna, one of the biggest recruits to ever commit to any Penn State athletic program, was sought after by all of college hockey, but Penn State pulled ahead of the pack, with McKenna ultimately choosing the Nittany Lions over Big Ten rival Michigan State. McKenna made visits to State College and East Lansing at the end of June, but decided Happy Valley was home.
The Whitehorse, Yukon, native is a 6-foot, 165-pound left-winger who is highly regarded as one of the best Canadians to come through the ranks of junior hockey in recent memory.
Hockey insider Elliotte Friedman was the first to drop the tea leaves of where McKenna was leaning on June 7 on his 32 Thoughts podcast, with the episode appropriately named “It Must Have Been the Ice Cream”. Creamery ice cream really is irresistible.
McKenna doesn’t turn 18 until December and spent the 2024-25 season with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League, putting up 41 goals and 129 total points. Washington Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall (132) is the only player to put up more.
McKenna’s outstanding season saw him named the David Branch Player of the Year as the best Canadian amateur player, an award previously won by the likes of Mario Lemieux in 1984, Sidney Crosby in 2004 and 2005, Connor McDavid in 2015, and recent No. 1 picks Alexis Lafreniere and Connor Bedard.
McKenna figures to only play one season with the blue and white this winter, but he’ll be joining an extremely talented team in Happy Valley that’s not only coming off of a Frozen Four appearance, but has added recent star commitments Jackson Smith, Pierce Mbuyi, and Luke Misa, while also landing Hobey Baker finalist Mac Gadowsky in the transfer portal.
It’s been reported that the Nittany Lions remain in the hunt for fellow top NHL prospects Porter Martone and Michael Misa, Luke’s brother.
Geoff Rushton contributed to this report.
