McKenna, Stenberg among 90 draft prospects attending NHL Scouting Combine

Gavin McKenna, the projected top pick in the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft, is one of 90 prospects invited to participate in the 2026 NHL Scouting Combine presented by Fanatics at KeyBank Center and LECOM HarborCenter in Buffalo beginning Monday.

"The NHL Combine is a rite of passage on a player's path to the NHL and is an event that NHL clubs and prospects look forward to participating in," NHL Central Scouting vice president and director Dan Marr said.

The Combine, which will run June 1-6, provides the 32 NHL teams with physical and medical assessments of the top prospects ahead of the 2026 draft at KeyBank Center in Buffalo June 26-27.

"The NHL Combine is the final showcase event before the NHL draft and it's a week full of interviews, medicals, and fitness testing where the players get to interact with NHL personnel and the NHL clubs get to learn as much as possible about the future stars of our game," Marr said.

There will be 56 forwards, 29 defensemen, and five goalies attending the combine. All are listed in NHL Central Scouting's final rankings of North American and International skaters and goaltenders.

Teams can have 1-on-1 interviews with prospects at KeyBank Center from June 1-5. The medical examinations will take place June 3, the Maximal VO2 bike test and isokinetic squat test, which is new to the Combine, will take place June 5, and the remaining eight of the 12 fitness tests will occur at HarborCenter on June 6 (standing height/wingspan, horizontal jump, force plate vertical jumps, bench press, pro agility test, pull ups, 10-meter sprint, Wingate Cycle Ergometer test). The 10-meter sprint, also new to the Combine, will be conducted in conjunction with the pro agility test.

"We've always tweaked a little bit of what the protocol will be just to give the teams as much information as they can get from these young players," NHL Central Scouting associate director David Gregory said on the latest edition of the "NHL Draft Class" podcast. "The isokinetic squat is assessing the lower extremity strength, which is really important in hockey.

"The sprint is testing how quickly you can get up to speed and what speed you can generate in a short period of time, which is great for hockey, because you're going for 30-60 seconds and going quick speed. There's a cable attached to the player that's going to track what kind of strength they have and how quickly they get up to speed."

No player can test until clearing the medical screening.

McKenna (5-foot-11, 170 pounds), a left wing with Penn State in the Big 10, is No. 1 on Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters.

The 18-year-old finished tied for fifth among NCAA players with 51 points (15 goals, 36 assists) in 35 games, and was second with an average of 1.46 points per game. He was voted Big 10 Freshman of the Year and was a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award given to the best player in NCAA men's hockey.

McKenna is one of eight NCAA men's hockey players to be invited to the Combine.

He's expected to do all of the testing, including both bike tests.

The No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft belongs to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who won the NHL Draft Lottery on May 5. The San Jose Sharks have the No. 2 selection and the Vancouver Canucks own the No. 3 pick.

Also attending the Combine is Sault Ste. Marie defenseman Chase Reid (6-2, 195), No. 2 on Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters. He was a finalist for the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the Ontario Hockey League defenseman of the year, finishing the regular season with 48 points (18 goals, 30 assists) in 45 games.

Carson Carels (6-2, 198), No. 3 among North American skaters, finished with 73 points (20 goals, 53 assists) in 58 games with Prince George of the Western Hockey League. He was a finalist for the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as WHL defenseman of the year.

Ivar Stenberg (5-11, 183), No. 1 on Central Scouting's final ranking of International skaters, is the highest-rated skater of 20 international invites. The left wing with Frolunda in the Swedish Hockey League had 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 43 games, the most points in a season by an 18-year-old SHL player since Daniel Sedin (42) and Henrik Sedin (34) in 1998-99.

Alberts Smits (6-3, 205), a defenseman with Munchen in Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the top professional league in Germany, is No. 2 on Central Scouting's list of International skaters. He had 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 38 games with Jukurit in Liiga, the top league in Finland, before he was loaned to Munchen on Feb. 25. He had one assist in five regular-season DEL games and six points (two goals, four assists) in 11 playoff games.

The 18-year-old also shined on the international stage. He was the youngest player at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where he had two assists in four games for Team Latvia while averaging 18:44 of ice time. He had five points (one goal, four assists) and averaged a team-high 23:40 in ice time for seventh-place Latvia at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, and capped his season with four assists in 21:47 of ice time in four games for his country at the 2026 IIHF World Championship. Latvia's run ended with a 2-0 loss to Norway in the quarterfinal round.

Brady Knowling (6-5, 202), No. 1 on the final ranking of North American goalies, is among the five goalies attending the Combine.