McKenna displays tattoo to honor grandfather at NHL Scouting Combine

The 2026 NHL Scouting Combine presented by Fanatics is taking place this week at KeyBank Center and LECOM HarborCenter in Buffalo. The combine will allow NHL teams an opportunity to conduct interviews and provide physical and medical assessments of the top prospects eligible for the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft. NHL.com will bring you all the sights and stories.

BUFFALO -- Gavin McKenna came up with a unique way to honor one of his biggest influences: his grandfather, Joe Mason.

On one side of McKenna's right forearm is an intricate tattoo of a cabin in the mountains in the Yukon Territory near McKenna's home in Whitehorse.

The other side features a moose and a wolf, honoring McKenna's Indigenous roots, which trace back through his grandfather.

"This is my cabin that my grandpa built," McKenna said. "These are the coordinates and the mountains. My mom and sister got the same tattoo with the coordinates. And then I'm obviously Indigenous, so our clan animal is a wolf, and my grandpa, we all grew up hunting moose. I'm yet to shoot my first moose, so moose is obviously a big part in our family."

Mason is a survivor of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Started in the 19th century, the schools separated First Nations children from their homes for decades under the auspices of giving them a Catholic education. However, later investigations showed many of the children suffered physical, mental and sexual abuse, leading to generational trauma.

Mason shared some of those stories in "The McKenna Project" documentary that debuted on TNT on May 21, most of which he never had shared before.

"One story that's always stuck with me was when he was a young kid, he was on a school trip and was left out in the mountains to pretty much just survive," McKenna said. "He wasn't worth the gas money of getting flown back into town, so he had to survive on his own out there for three or four days. I just can't even imagine what that was like at such a young age.

"So he's gone through a lot, and I'm obviously very grateful for what he's done for me, and how big of a motivator he's been for me."

McKenna, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2026 draft, at times struggled under the weight of media criticism and volatile social media commentary. But one thing that helped the 18-year-old navigate his journey was perspective gained from Mason.

"He's gone through so much in his life and dealt with so much," McKenna said. "For me, I use that as a huge motivator, and I know if something's going on in my life, I'm getting flamed on Twitter or whatever it is, it's nothing compared to what he had to go through, and the way he had to survive."

Belchetz healthy, will do some testing

Ethan Belchetz is healed from the broken left collarbone that ended his season in February, and the forward with Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League will take part in some of the combine fitness testing Friday and Saturday.

"I'll be doing all the testing, except for the pull-ups and the bench press, just because I don't want to be putting too much strain on it," Belchetz said. 

Belchetz (6-5, 228) had 59 points (34 goals, 25 assists) in 57 games when he was injured during a practice. He last played Feb. 28, but the 18-year-old is No. 9 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters.

"Just kind of a fluke play," he said. "Nothing meant to happen. ... Those things happen when you're playing a fast sport like hockey, injuries happen. I went down with a collarbone break and had to get surgery."

Belchetz said he has been skating for more than a month and is shooting pucks.

"I feel 100 percent now, and I'm ready to attack the offseason," he said.

Czech goalie takeover

Five of the top six goalies on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American goalies have something in common; all of them were born in Czechia and came to North America this season.

Plzen native Michal Orsulak of Prince Albert of the Western Hockey League is No. 2 on the list, followed by Tobias Trejbal (Most) of Youngstown of the United States Hockey League, Filip Ruzicka (Trinec) of Brandon (WHL), Jan Larys (Ostrava) of Drummondville of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League and Marek Sklenicka (Most) of Seattle (WHL).

So what separates Czechia-born goalies?

"I think it's the amount of coaches there," said Trejbal, who was named the USHL goalie of the year after going 30-9-3 with a 2.12 GAA, .916 save percentage and three shutouts in 42 regular-season games. "Every team, you have the youth academy, then you have U-10, U-14, U-16, U-18, so every team has a few goalie coaches there. ... It's way better than here in the U.S. where you have to travel for your goalie coach or you don't have that many of them."

Larys agreed that the amount of coaching he received growing up was good, but just as important was how they allow young goalies to develop their own way.

"Every goalie has a different style," said Larys, who led QMJHL rookie goalies with 26 wins and had a 2.86 GAA, .908 save percentage and three shutouts in 38 games. "It's not like when you look at the Swedish goalies, they kind of look the same. Czech guys, if you would look at all four goalies that are here, we pretty much have a different style of play."

Orsulak felt he needed a stronger challenge after being passed over in the 2025 NHL Draft while playing for Karlovy Vary's team in Czechia's junior league.

This season with Prince Albert, the 18-year-old was 28-4-4 with a 2.22 GAA, .907 save percentage and four shutouts in 36 regular-season WHL games, and then had a 2.80 GAA, .895 save percentage and three shutouts in 20 playoff games to help Prince Albert reach the WHL finals.

"I needed to step up in my career," he said. "If I stay in the Czech league, it would be like playing recreation (league). This year now I'm here at combine, and it's excellent for me."

Ignatavicius well-traveled

Simas Ignatavicius' route to the combine began in a fairly unique place -- Memphis, Tennessee.

"My dad used to play professional basketball overseas, and during his college years he played at the University of High Point (North Carolina)," Ignatavicius said. "After his career, we just went to live there, and I just happened to be born there."

The 18-year-old forward lived in the U.S. for just a year, but his travels have since taken him to Lithuania, the birthplace of his parents, and now Switzerland.

Ignatavicius (6-3, 198) had 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 52 games with Geneve of the National League, the top professional league in Switzerland, and is No. 10 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of International skaters.

His athleticism certainly stands out; his father, Mantas, played professional basketball in Lithuania, Germany and Poland between 1994 and 2009. His mother, Rita, was a high-level handball player.

Simas, however, chose hockey, and moved to Switzerland when he was 12 years old to chase his goals.

There were some challenges along the way, including a billet family that only spoke French.

"So for the first six months it was like all Google Translate," Ignatavicius said. "After that, I was picking up a little bit by just watching YouTube videos and stuff."

Ignatavicius speaks French now, along with English, Lithuanian and Russian.

He'll return for at least one more season with Geneve, with the hope of a bigger role and increased offensive production.

"One thing I need to improve is my first few steps, my explosiveness," he said. "I think I realized that at the beginning of this season, and it's been getting better, but I have to improve it. Going to work with my gym coach off the ice and on the ice with a skills coach and skating coach, and I'm sure it's going to get better."