Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft, has decided against playing for Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Championship in order to better prepare for the NHL Draft Combine and a critical summer of training.
The World Championship will take place in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland, from May 15-31.
McKenna, a left wing with Penn State University, finished tied for fifth in the NCAA with 51 points (15 goals, 36 assists) and was second with 1.46 points per game in 35 games this season. The 18-year-old was a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the best NCAA Division I men's hockey player this season.
"It's better for his development to stay back, prepare for the NHL Combine and start his summer training," agent Matt Williams of CAA Hockey told NHL.com. "I know we thought he was going, but it just makes more sense. (Canada) has a deep team."
The Combine will be held at KeyBank Center in Buffalo from June 1-6. The 2026 Draft will be held at KeyBank Center, with the first round on June 26 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS) and rounds 2-7 on June 27 (10 a.m. ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN).
The Toronto Maple Leafs have the No. 1 pick after winning the NHL Draft Lottery on Tuesday. The San Jose Sharks won the No. 2 pick, and the Vancouver Canucks have the No. 3 pick.
With established NHL talent competing for limited roles for Canada in the World Championship, McKenna's camp felt the timing was not ideal so rather than heading overseas for a short tournament window that could end abruptly, the focus shifted toward maximizing preparation for the next step in his career.
McKenna has been working out and skating in Kelowna, British Columbia, taking advantage of a stronger training infrastructure. Williams said the decision to stay back was directly tied to ensuring his client arrives at the Combine in peak physical and mental shape.
The Combine is a pivotal event for top prospects, featuring fitness testing, medical evaluations, and extensive interviews with NHL teams. Those meetings can shape draft perception just as much as on-ice performance.
"Gavin's very excited," Williams said when asked about the Combine. "He's in great spirits and is excited about the summer and what's next. He's just getting to his training and getting to start to plan for next year."
McKenna, who is No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, is expected to be the first men's ice hockey player from Penn State to be selected in the first round of the NHL Draft. Forward Charlie Cerrato, chosen by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round (No. 49) last year, is the highest-drafted player in the program's history.
McKenna was second in the Western Hockey League in 2024-25 with 129 points (41 goals, 88 assists) in 56 games with Medicine Hat and was named player of the year in the WHL and the Canadian Hockey League. This was the first season players from the CHL were eligible to play in the NCAA, and McKenna was the most prominent among the 175 players, according to College Hockey Inc., who made the jump this season.
Asked whether McKenna is being prepared for the scrutiny and questioning that comes with the Combine, Williams said the process is familiar for his agency.
"I mean, we do it with all of our prospects and all of our clients," he said. "We want them to be themselves, obviously, but we are having some of those discussions. Gavin's really good at that but we have those discussions with everybody."
