2026 NHL Draft Diary: Gavin McKenna

Gavin McKenna of Penn State University in the Big Ten is filing a draft diary for NHL.com this season leading up to the 2026 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old freshman left wing (5-foot-11, 170 pounds), who was born in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, is No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters eligible for the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft. The sixth youngest player in men's college hockey had 51 points (15 goals, 36 assists) in 35 games. McKenna filed his June entry after his participation in the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo, N.Y.

Hello hockey fans,

I really enjoyed the experience this week at the NHL Scouting Combine. Obviously, before that first team interview, you're a little bit nervous but once I got that first one done, you kind of get a feel for everything so I got comfortable with it. I think I had a lot of fun getting to meet all these people and make new friends here and obviously competing out there against your peers and trying to see your score and compare it to each other's is fun.

I had eight club interviews this week and the thing I really noticed was just how professional the teams are. They really care about who they're drafting and really want to know the person. Everyone here is a good talent, so they want to figure out who the best people are. It was cool to kind of talk to all these amazing hockey brains and try to sell yourself in a humble way.

Even though Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka visited my family in Whitehorse, Yukon, prior to the combine, I still interviewed with them here in Buffalo. It was a little different at the combine because there's like 10 people in there, so it wasn't talking 1-on-1 with Chayka. But they were awesome. They really want to figure out the type of person you are and I had a lot of fun with it. They're asking some tough questions, but I thought I did well. If I do get drafted there, I think I'll fit in pretty well.

There were two new tests at the combine. The squat test and the 10-meter sprint. I think I put up a decent score on both tests. I think you get to come to these events and try new things and see how you compare against all these other guys, so you want to do your best in everything. I thought I left it all out there.

My workout partner as I went from test to test was Prince Albert defenseman Daxon Rudolph and that was great. You want to see a guy like that do as good as he can and I think we both compared each other's numbers and we stacked up against each other pretty well. I'm sure I was pushing him and he was pushing me. We got through it together, and it was fun to do with him.

The toughest test on Saturday was the Wingate cycle ergometer bike for sure. It's different from the VO2 Max bike test where you kind of ramp up and then you go all out at the end. The VO2 is more a cardio test. The Wingate is an all-out sprint, so you're going 100-miles per hour the whole time and your body doesn't really know how to react to that. It took me a while to kind of come back to life after the test. 

I met Ivar Stenberg (No. 1 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of International skaters) for the first time while here at the combine. We obviously have known each other from the media and I know he's an unbelievable player. So, to kind of get to meet him for the first time here was nice. We tried to talk ... You don't want to ever have bad blood with anyone here. So we've been talking and it's good to see him. Whenever I see him, I'll say 'Hi, what's up?' I want to see him succeed out here. He's been awesome.

I'm excited that I'll be going to watch my first Stanley Cup Final game. I'm heading to Toronto and then me and five other prospects will fly to Las Vegas for Game 4 on Tuesday. It'll be a pretty cool experience and to do it with (defenseman prospect) Keaton Verhoeff and those guys will be fun.

I've trained pretty hard for this combine. After the game in Las Vegas, I'll go home for about five or six days and just kind of chill out and take all this in. Then I'm right back to work in Kelowna (British Columbia) and then obviously the NHL Draft (on June 26-27).

In closing I would like to say the combine was a lot of fun. I think you always dread the testing, but I think it was really fun to get it over with and kind of look back at it. To get through it with (Rudolph) was a fun experience. To see my scores up against everyone else's is pretty cool. I think if I could do it again, I would do it.

Thanks for reading this month. I'll file one more diary after the NHL Draft in Buffalo.