Gavin McKenna is turning Happy Valley into Hockey Valley. The expected top prospect in the 2026 NHL draft is reportedly heading to play in the NCAA at Penn State for the 2025–26 season. The official announcement, expected later this week, signals a major change in the hockey development pipeline for the NHL.
Yukon-native McKenna, 17, spent the past three seasons in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) with the Medicine Hat Tigers, which play in the Western Hockey League (WHL). He is regarded as a generational talent alongside names including Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard, and is the most high-profile recruit in NCAA hockey history.
McKenna’s move from the CHL represents a big get for Penn State, which just reached its first Frozen Four in April and is returning many key players. But more importantly, the commitment signals a big shift for junior hockey.
The upcoming season is the first in which players in CHL players—the WHL, Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)—are able to play in college after a NCAA ban was dropped last November following an August 2024 antirust lawsuit. After the ruling, it was unclear how many prospects would jump, especially when it has been difficult to sell the NCAA over the CHL, particularly for Canadian players.
With McKenna’s quick defection, U.S. college hockey is the preferred developmental destination over the CHL. Throughout the past several years, the college game has evolved to better reflect play in the NHL—faster, more physical, and older—and the most elite players are now seeing the potential for better opportunities on NCAA ice. As McKenna brings his talent to college, the CHL is likely to see more attrition.
Money, too, has vaulted college to supremacy. During McKenna’s recruitment period in June, Mike McMahon, publisher of the College Hockey Insider newsletter, told Front Office Sports that some major-conference programs, including within the Big Ten where Penn State plays, have six-figure revenue-sharing and NIL budgets. McKenna is reportedly reaping those benefits; although compensation has not yet been made public, McMahon wrote Tuesday his package could be up to $700,000. The number represents far higher earning potential in the NCAA over the CHL.
No decision is bigger than McKenna’s, but several other top prospects, including members of the 2025 NHL draft class, have already committed to NCAA teams following their stints in the CHL. Keaton Verhoeff, who is also considered a top-three prospect for the 2026 NHL draft, will play for for the University of North Dakota after skating for the WHL’s Victoria Royals. It is not unprecedented that a first-overall NHL draft pick eschews the CHL—two of the past five top selections played in the NCAA—but this upcoming season represents a new era, where elite junior players have an opportunity they did not have before.
