Hockey’s Best Prospect Just Chose College Over the ‘Pros’
Anwar Stetson
A major NCAA ruling has caused a seismic shift for future hockey stars, giving Americans more competition
This school in the Lower 48 just snatched one of the most promising recent prospects from the Great White North. In an era stacked with young talent like Conor Bedard and Connor McDavid, this 17-year-old could join the list of greats chasing the ghost of the “Great One.”
Gavin McKenna isn’t just from the North, he’s from the way North—in 2022 he was the first player drafted to the Western Hockey League from the Yukon. Nearly 1,500 miles north of Vancouver, and over 3,000 miles northwest of Toronto, Mckenna proves that if you have the talent, the scouts will come running.
Raised in Whitehorse, a town that gets frequent visits from the aurora borealis, McKenna shines the brightest. The WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers selected the forward at just 14-years-old, making him the youngest ever drafted to the league.
McKenna’s father, Willy, was a former hockey player himself, and he built Gavin a wooden rink at their home. In a 2022 interview with the CBC, McKenna said he shot more than 100 pucks per day in the rink, even in temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius.
Now 17, the projected No.1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft is leaving Major-Junior hockey for the American college experience. On Tuesday, McKenna committed to Penn State live on SportsCenter. Per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, the former CHL Rookie of the Year is expected to receive a six-figure NIL deal, projected to be the largest in college hockey history.
The young star picked up and donned a blue and white hat adorned with Penn State’s logo, the famous Nittany Lion.
It’s not often you see young Canadian hockey stars have a collegiate signing-day moment. Most of the best players, from Wayne Gretzky to Sidney Crosby, didn’t attend college at all, staying in Major-Junior until getting called up to the NHL. But because of a significant NCAA ruling, national signing days for international athletes in Junior Hockey could become more common.
The Canadian Hockey League is the country’s largest hockey development organization. It comprises three member leagues, the Western Hockey League (WHL) in the Pacific Northwest, the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and the Quebec Maritime Juniors Hockey League (QMJHL).
Players in these leagues receive a “very small monthly stipend” as well as scholarships to Canadian universities if they so choose. Because of this, the NCAA considered Major-Junior Hockey players professional athletes and therefore ineligible to play college sports under its jurisdiction in the U.S.
After the introduction of NIL, the principle of amateurism ended in the NCAA. It doesn’t seem to make much sense banning Canadian hockey stars from college sports over a small living stipend when NCAA athletes are now making enough money to buy $200,000 Maybachs.
Last November, the NCAA approved a rule change to allow Major-Junior players to sign with college teams. The change goes into effect on August 1, just in time for Gavin McKenna to shred Division 1 Hockey.
Fan reaction was mixed, as some Spartan fans wanted him to attend three-time NCAA champion Michigan State, which has a much more storied history on the ice than Penn State. Others believe the signing will negatively impact the CHL, believing the organization will lose talent to the U.S.
One fan on X said the “CHL is now the NCAA farm system.”
The U.S. has grown tremendously in developing youth hockey talent. In three decades, the number of Americans in the NHL has doubled, according to a New York Times report.
American players also used to head up to Canada to play in Major-Junior hockey. But there are a number of options now, including its own junior league, the USHL, U-18 and U-19 teams, and college hockey. Now with the floodgates opening, homegrown players and Canadian stars will have a chance to compete face-to-face in the NCAA, one of the most lucrative sports organizations in the world.
McKenna is just the latest amongst dozens of CHL players to commit to American universities in the past year, some of whom were drafted to the NHL without playing on college ice. For players like McKenna, it’s hard to resist the allure of big bucks at the collegiate level, especially as the Whitehorse native won’t be eligible for the NHL draft until 2026 when he’s 18-years-old.
“I got to bring along my dad, and we both thought it was a great spot for me,” the Yukon phenom said during his Sportscenter interview. Penn State made its first appearance in the Frozen Four in 2025. McKenna will trade frozen whiteout conditions up north for fan whiteouts in State College, Pennsylvania, this fall.