McKenna 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. He was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, a two-time National Rookie of the Month and four-time Big Ten Star of the Week, and was the only unanimous choice on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. He became just the fourth Penn State men's ice hockey player to earn All-America status, being named a CCM/AHCA Second-Team All-American on April 10.
McKenna was second in the Western Hockey League last season 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.
If the Maple Leafs decide to select McKenna, he'd 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.
"I like the fact he went out and challenged himself this year by playing in college," said John Williams, Central Scouting's senior Western scout. "We all know he's not big and strong yet, so college hockey was not going to be easy for him. He's so smart and skilled that he's been able to produce exceptionally well."
Another option at No. 1 could be forward Ivar Stenberg (5-11, 183), No. 1 in NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of International skaters, who had 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 43 games for Frolunda in the Swedish Hockey League. It was the most points in a season by an 18-year-old SHL player since Daniel Sedin (42) and Henrik Sedin (34) in 1998-99.
After McKenna and Stenberg, there are five defensemen, each projected as a franchise-defining NHL player along the blue line down the road.
In that mix are Chase Reid of Sault Ste. Marie in the Ontario Hockey League, Carson Carels of Prince George in the WHL, Keaton Verhoeff of the University of North Dakota, Daxon Rudolph of Prince Albert (WHL), and Alberts Smits of Munchen in Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the top professional league in Germany.
Among OHL defensemen, Reid (6-2, 195) ranked 12th with 48 points (18 goals, 30 assists) and 13th with 20 power-play points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 45 regular-season games. Carels (6-2, 198) ranked fourth among WHL defensemen with 73 points (20 goals, 53 assists) and second with 32 power-play points (five goals, 27 assists) in 58 regular-season games.
Verhoeff (6-3, 208), the second of five NCAA players among the top 32 skaters in Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters, finished with 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) and was third on his team with 43 blocked shots in 36 games as a freshman at North Dakota. Rudolph (6-2, 206), who may have the highest ceiling of any defenseman in this draft class, was third among WHL defensemen with 78 points (28 goals, 50 assists) and first with 35 power-play points (13 goals, 22 assists) in 68 regular-season games.
At 18, Smits (6-3, 205) 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 per game. He had 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 38 games with Jukurit in Liiga before he was loaned to Munchen on Feb. 25. He had one assist in five regular season DEL games and has six points (two goals, four assists) in 11 playoff games.
