Browsing: McKenna

Penn State freshman Gavin McKenna is one of 27 players to get an A rating from NHL Central Scouting in the preliminary players to watch list for next year’s draft.

The list, released Monday, gives an A rating to players considered first-round candidates.

McKenna, who moved to the NCAA from the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers this season after a rule change by the U.S. college sports governing body, has one goal and five assists in six games for Penn State to start the season.

The Whitehorse native is playing against older competition than in the CHL, where he led the Tigers to the Memorial Cup final last season and was named the top player in the country.

Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino had McKenna ranked No. 1 in his October rankings for the draft.

All players in Cosentino’s top five also got A ratings — Frolunda winger Ivar Stenberg, North Dakota defenceman Keaton Verhoeff, Windsor Spitfires winger Ethan Belchetz and Niagara IceDogs centre Ryan Roobroeck.

Other notable players to get A grades include WHL scoring leader JP Hurlbert of the Kamloops Blazers, QMJHL defence scoring leader Xavier Villeneuve of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armanda and WHL defence scoring leader Ryan Lin of the Vancouver Giants.

The OHL leads the way with eight A prospects.

Here’s a list of all players to receive an A grade:

LW Ethan Belchetz (Windsor Spitfires, OHL)
D Carson Carels (Prince George Cougars, WHL)
C Alessandro Di Iorio (Sarnia Sting, OHL)
D Malte Gustafsson (HV71 Jr., Sweden)
LW Oscar Hemming (Espoo, Finland)
RW Elton Hermansson (Modo, Sweden)
LW JP Hurlbert (Kamloops Blazers, WHL)
RW Nikita Klepov (Saginaw Spirit, OHL)
C Tynan Lawrence (Muskegon Lumberjacks, USHL)
D Ryan Lin (Vancouver Giants, WHL)
C Caleb Malhotra (Brantford Bulldogs, OHL)
LW Gavin McKenna (Penn State, NCAA)
LW Marcus Nordmark (Djurgarden, Sweden)
LW Adam Novotny (Peterborough Petes, OHL)
D Juho Piiparinen (Tappara, Finland)
RW Mathis Preston (Spokane Chiefs, WHL)
D Chase Reid (Soo Greyhounds, OHL)
C Brooks Rogowski (Oshawa Generals, OHL)
LW Ryan Roobroeck (Niagara IceDogs, OHL)
D Daxon Rudolph (Prince Albert Raiders, WHL)
D Luke Schairer (U.S. national development team, USHL)
C Egor Shilov (Victoriaville Tigres, QMJHL)
D Alberts Smits (Jukurit, Finland)
LW Ivar Stenberg (Frolunda, Sweden)
C Oliver Suvanto (Tappara, Finland)
D Keaton Verhoeff (North Dakota, NCAA)
D Xavier Villeneuve (Blainville-Boisbriand, QMJHL)

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Gavin McKenna admits he didnâ€t watch a lot of college hockey growing up in Western Canada.

But the projected 2026 NHL draftâ€s top prospect saw enough last season to know he wanted to play for Penn State.

McKenna met with reporters Monday for the first time since shocking the hockey world in July by announcing his departure from the Western Hockey League to commit to Guy Gadowskyâ€s Nittany Lions.

“Seeing what these guys did last year, making it to the Frozen Four, that was a big influence on me,†McKenna said. “I wanted to come to a winning team and I thought this was the spot.â€

The 17-year-old was already the main man for a winning program.

He finished second in the WHL with 129 points (41 goals, 88 assists) in 56 games last season and was the leagueâ€s player of the year. He led the Medicine Hat Tigers to the WHL championship and Memorial Cup finals.

In his three seasons for Medicine Hat, McKenna had 79 goals and 165 assists.

Now he aims to provide even more scoring and playmaking for the Nittany Lions who return their top six scorers from last seasonâ€s squad that fell a game short of playing for an NCAA title.

“Itâ€s continuing on where we left off and I think Gavin was really adamant about that when coming in and talking about the reasons why,†Gadowsky said. “Heâ€s here to enhance that, not change that.â€

McKenna is joined by new teammates Lev Katzin, Luke Misa and Shea Van Olm, and defencemen Jackson Smith and Nolan Collins who are among the nearly 325 CHL players who have committed to Division I college programs this year.

The NCAA lifted its ban on CHL players in November, paving the way for McKenna and other CHL players — previously considered professionals because they received stipends for living expenses — to defect to the NCAA ranks.

McKenna, living on his own for the first time nearly 3,500 miles from his home in Whitehorse in Canadaâ€s Yukon Territory, has already made a strong first impression on his coaches and teammates.

Gadowsky said McKenna, is a “chill, great hang†while team captain Dane Dowiak called him a normal guy who “just wants to win.â€

Theyâ€ve all been mesmerized by the wingerâ€s hockey IQ, speed and ability to think and react before defenders can get a bead on him.

“He does think the game differently,†Gadowsky said. “Heâ€s a different animal when it comes to that. Not only compared to any other freshman, compared to anybody.â€

But there are areas where the phenom will be tested, Gadowsky said.

Notably, McKenna goes from being one of the older players in the WHL where players as young as 15 can suit up, to one of the youngest in the NCAA ranks.

“Heâ€s going to be playing against guys eight years older that have been lifting weights in a very structured environment for a long time,†Gadowsky said. “Donâ€t forget, heâ€s 17 so there is going to be a transition process, there really is.â€

McKenna is counting on it.

“I think thereâ€s a lot less time and space,†McKenna said. “The guys are bigger, faster, older. Itâ€s not too different in terms of skill and stuff. Obviously both leagues are very skilled and guys can make plays, but in terms of speed and size, I think thatâ€s the biggest difference.â€

Listed at six-foot, 170 pounds, McKenna said he considered the length of the NCAA season a positive and negative when making his decision.

A negative because he loves the game and wants to play as much as possible. Even with a post-season run, Penn State played 40 games last year. McKenna skated in more than 60 games each of the last two seasons with Medicine Hat.

The positive? Heâ€ll have some time to develop physically for what comes after his time in Happy Valley.

“Iâ€m itching to play games,†McKenna said. “With that though, thatâ€s a reason I came here is because less games, more time in the gym. Iâ€m not a big guy, so I want to put on weight and that was part of the reason I came here.â€

Aiden Fink, the teamâ€s leading scorer last season with 23 goals and 30 assists, is looking forward to skating with McKenna and is ready for the extra attention on the program.

“Itâ€s going to be an exciting year for us, definitely,†Fink said.

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