Gavin McKenna's journey takes him from the Yukon to Penn State to potential No. 1 NHL draft pick

Penn State forward Gavin McKenna (72) skates during an NCAA hockey regional game against Minnesota Duluth, March 27, 2026 in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Vera Nieuwenhuis, File)

BUFFALO, N.Y. — For all the offence, leadership and star-power Gavin McKenna brought to Penn State hockey this season, coach Guy Gadowsky discovered yet another attribute in the celebrated forward’s talented arsenal.

And it involved ping-pong, of all things.

Having dominated most of his players in table tennis over the years, Gadowsky is still stung after meeting his match.

“It wasn’t fun because I was able to beat him on his recruiting trip. And then I beat him early in the season and quite regularly,” Gadowsky recalled. “He just kept on improving and improving and improving. And by the end of it, I think he probably has beaten me more than any other player.”

As the projected No. 1 pick in the NHL draft in Buffalo on Friday night, McKenna has larger visions than ping-pong. Yet what the 18-year-old from Whitehorse, Yukon, did in improving his paddle skills was eye-opening to Gadowsky in reflecting McKenna’s innate competitiveness.

“He has great confidence in his ability to figure things out and improve,” he said, noting how it compared to McKenna’s ability to adapt against older and more physical players at the NCAA level. “He very quickly became the best ping-pong player, and he very quickly became the best (hockey) player in the Big Ten at such a young age.”

McKenna finds his groove in 2nd half

It took the entire first half of the season for the 5-foot-11, 170-pound McKenna to adjust in making the jump from Canada’s Western Hockey League to college.

Driven by his own expectations and outside critics, McKenna found his groove upon returning to Penn State in January after representing Canada at the world junior championship. He had 32 points in his final 17 games to finish tied for fourth in the nation with 51 (15 goals, 36 assists) in 35 outings.

“When you see yourself at the top since a young age, and then you start to see things in the media that I’m falling down, I think you get pretty fired up from it,” McKenna said of his second-half surge.

“I got sick and tired of seeing it, just used it as fuel. I started working harder off the ice, on the ice,” he added. “I don’t think (the criticisms) will ever go away, but it’s something I’ll carry with me forever. I learned that hard work is key to confidence.”

On the draft radar since 2023-24

McKenna’s been pegged as his age group’s top talent since 2023-24, when he piled up 97 points in 61 games in his first full season with Medicine Hat. He followed with 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games the next year, before opting for Penn State — and announcing his decision on ESPN — in the wake of the NCAA lifting its ban of CHL players.

McKenna did so by banking on himself and taking the more difficult path to show he can compete at a higher level.

“If he’d have gone back and played juniors, he’d have piled up the points, which is what we already know he can do,” NHL Central Scouting chief Dan Marr said. “But now he’s shown he can adapt to the level of play, adapt to a different style of play. He just made himself more ready for the NHL.”

Though Sweden forward Ivar Stenberg and U.S. defenseman Chase Reid have been mentioned as potential No. 1 picks, Marr said he wouldn’t bypass McKenna.

The chance to go first to Toronto

The Toronto Maple Leafs are scheduled to pick first, and aren’t tipping their hand, though team executives have met several times with McKenna, including a visit to Whitehorse.

“He wants to win,” Leafs director of amateur scouting Mark Leach said. “He drags people into the fight if you will, not only in games but also in practice. Those are special people.”

McKenna has the opportunity to be the second Yukoner selected in the first round, after family friend Dylan Cozens went No. 7 to Buffalo in 2019.

To develop his skills, McKenna left his hometown behind six years ago in a journey that’s featured various challenges and numerous stops. And now he is days away from potentially landing in one of the NHL’s premier markets.

“There’s no player that I’ve been around that I would bet on to deal with that noise and spotlight more than Gavin because I’ve seen him handle everything here,” Gadowsky said.

McKenna welcomed the possibility of playing in Toronto, and living in a metropolis nearly 100 times the size of Whitehorse’s population of about 39,000.

“If I was a young kid telling myself this is where I’d be, that’d be a dream come true,” McKenna said of speaking in front of a crowd of reporters at the NHL prospect combine earlier this month. “It’s something I’m very grateful for, and something I’ll never take for granted.”

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John Wawrow, The Associated Press