Seventeen-year-old Gavin McKenna is already a top prospect for the 2026 NHL Draft and is trending towards being the No. 1 overall pick.
The young forward who is already being considered to becoming a "generational hockey talent" with some of the best stars in the league. McKenna is the third-youngest player to win Canadian Hockey Player of the Year. Two 16-year-olds accomplished this feat: Sidney Crosby and John Tavares.
But before the pros, the left winger has an NCAA career to figure out if he decides to jump into college hockey instead of stay with the CHL. Financially, it's more reasonable for McKenna to start a career at the college level, however, nothing is set in stone.
If he were to jump into the NCAA, McKenna has a couple of schools at the top of his mind: Penn State and Michigan State.
Penn State is the favorite to recruit top NHL prospect Gavin McKenna
Various sources, including Puck preps and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, have put the Nittany Lions in the early lead to land McKenna. On Friedman's podcast, his polls ranked Penn State as an early favorite.
With the Western Hockey League's Medicine Hat Tigers, he posted 129 points on 41 goals and 88 assists. McKenna was also plus 60 for the season. In the last World Juniors Championship (U20), he had one goal in the tournament in the 4-0 win over Finland.
While it's still early to claim McKenna will 100 percent choose Penn State for his collegiate hockey career, it doesn't hurt to have an edge on the competition early on.
How NIL deals are helping Penn State and how is recruitment looking for the Nittany Lions overall
One thing benefiting the Nittany Lions for these top tier recruits is NIL packages. Since the scope of college hockey and the CHL is continuing to change with CHL players now being eligible to play NCAA hockey as of this upcoming season, it'll be more common for Canadian hockey players to start jumping ship. NIL deals will be a big factor into which schools land top NHL prospects.
As of now, Penn State seems to be in a good spot.
Aside from McKenna's potential commitment, Penn State already locked down defenseman Jackson Smith and forward Pierce Mbuyi.
Penn State is also in the running to land Porter Martone, a top five prospect in the 2025 NHL Draft whose logged 98 points in 57 games in his most recent season as a captain with the Brampton Steelheads. He has already been named to Canada's 2025 IIHF World Championship team.
It's not a definite that the Nittany Lions will land this recruit as other schools seem to be coming into the mix, but as of now, Martone's ties are mainly in Happy Valley.
All three Canadian players — Smith, Mbuyi, and Martone — are in the CHL, proving how quick this turnaround will be in the NCAA with the introduction of this league's players. It seems right now, too, that Penn State is doing well with the new revision to eligible NCAA players.