McKenna, top prospect for 2026 NHL Draft, takes patient approach

CALGARY — Gavin McKenna is currently the favorite to be selected in the 2026 NHL Draft, but the 16-year-old forward is in no rush to achieve that goal.

McKenna, who was named Rookie of the Year in the Canadian Hockey League last season, is approaching the nearly two-year wait calmly and patiently.

“I’m fortunate that I get the opportunity to play another year before I get drafted,” McKenna told NHL.com. “I’ve got to take advantage of it and make sure I’m doing my best every day. I’ve got to not take it easy because I have time, but make sure I’m working hard every day so that when the time comes, I’m ready.”

It’s easy to see why the hockey world is so excited about the left winger from Whitehorse, Yukon. McKenna (5-foot-11, 160 pounds) had 97 points (34 goals, 63 assists) in 61 games for Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League in 2023-24.

He also had 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in seven games at the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championship, the most productive tournament ever for a 16-year-old skater and the third-most points in a single tournament regardless of age, behind top prospect James Hagens (22 points, 2024) and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov (21 points, 2011).

“(McKenna) is a slimy guy,” said defenseman Matthew Schaefer, a top prospect in the 2025 draft who will be teammates with McKenna at both the U18 World Championship and the upcoming 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Edmonton from Aug. 5-10. “His hands and feet work pretty quickly together. You can’t get caught looking at the puck or you’re done. He’s a great player. He’s very deceptive. You never know where he’s going to go.”

The accolades he has received in his short career, including the Jim Piggott Trophy as WHL Rookie of the Year in 2023-24 and the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) Most Valuable Player award in 2022-23, may support Schaefer’s claim.

But McKenna, who describes himself as a “cunning playmaker who likes to play fast”, is not letting the attention and speculation go to his head.

“I think my parents raised me pretty well,” McKenna said. “They taught me how to avoid that kind of stuff. When you’re in the rink every day playing the sport you love, it just gets shut out. You don’t think about it. You just play. Online stuff, you naturally avoid. Sometimes it’s hard, but if you just focus on yourself and don’t let it affect you, that’s the key.”

However, that’s not to say it wouldn’t be important for McKenna to join the likes of Connor Bedard and Connor McDavid as a first-round pick.

It is an opportunity he is looking forward to.

“It would be awesome,” McKenna said. “It’s something I’ve been working towards my whole life, so if I get that opportunity to make that happen, my family would be super proud, I would be super proud and it would be a great moment for my family and I to know that I’m one step closer and my goal is checked off. That would be awesome.”

That’s the long-term goal for McKenna, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 Bantam Draft.

There are still a few short-term goals to check off well before then, including winning a gold medal at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he was one of 22 skaters representing Canada on Tuesday.

Another participation with Canada, this time at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa from December 26 to January 5, 2025, is also said to be on his list.

“One goal is to play in the World Junior Championships and play for my country,” McKenna said. “That’s a lifelong dream of mine. If I can hopefully achieve that, that’s a big thing for me and that’s going to motivate me all year.”

A WHL championship in the spring would also nearly complete his list.

After that, McKenna may finally turn his attention to the 2026 draft.

“You just want to stay calm and really block those things out and avoid them because at the end of the day, none of that means anything,” McKenna said. “It’s all about how hard you work and when the time comes, it’s all about where you’re drafted. You just focus on yourself and work every day to get better.”