It’s not that college hockey wasn’t an option for top NHL prospects in the past. It’s that it wasn’t a very enticing one. Oftentimes, it wasn’t a higher level of competition for prospects coming from juniors, and the benefits were even more limited. NIL has changed all of that.
Now that top prospects can get paid to play college hockey, the competition level has risen, and many, including Gavin McKenna, the likely first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, are spending a year or more in college and continuing to raise it. And because of that, college hockey might be the best place to get NHL-ready.
“The style of hockey is pretty different,” McKenna told the TSN crew at the Memorial Cup on Wednesday night. “In junior, I think there’s a lot more skill, and there’s a bit more plays being made, and in college, guys are heavy, harder, faster, older, so it’s pretty defensive, and it’s hard to create in that league, so I thought that it was the right move for me. And honestly, I think that’s going to be a big year that helps me, looking back.”
WHL Player of the Year and 2025 WHL Champion, Gavin McKenna is in the house at #MemorialCup ! pic.twitter.com/e2Tr3oREP6
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) May 28, 2026
Gavin McKenna’s description of college hockey sounds a lot like the Stanley Cup Playoffs
McKenna will forgo another year of college hockey and begin his NHL career next season, presumably with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who own the No. 1 pick. However, many players return or head to college after they’re drafted, including the No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Porter Martone.
After he was named the College Hockey New Rookie of the Year at Michigan State, Martone joined the Philadelphia Flyers in March and immediately made an impact, scoring 10 points across his first nine games and five in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including the game-winning goal in Game 1 of the first round against Pittsburgh.
Martone was ready to play, not just in the NHL, but in the postseason, immediately. That’s a credit to his ability, of course, but it’s also a credit to college hockey, which more closely resembles the NHL, especially in the springtime when things get much tighter.
Stories like Martone’s and quotes like McKenna’s, along with six and maybe eventually seven-figure paychecks, will continue to drive top prospects to college hockey, and maybe, specifically, to Happy Valley.
Penn State’s pipeline is continuing with Jackson Smith and Jaxon Cover
McKenna wasn’t the only top prospect to join the Nittany Lions ahead of the 2025-26 season. He arrived with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2025 draft, Jackson Smith, who promptly broke the program record for goals by a defenseman, and who is returning for a second season after the Nittany Lions’ unfortunate first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament.
Smith will lead the Nittany Lions into 2026-27 with Jaxon Cover, a left-winger originally from the Cayman Islands who played for the London Knights in the OHL last season. Cover is eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, but intends to play for Penn State after committing to Guy Gadowsky’s program in April.
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