Gavin McKenna, Penn State's 17-year-old ice hockey star, already is drawing comparisons to Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby.
Yet another Penn State national championship run begins in a little more than two months.
This one will be led by possibly the most highly-regarded PSU athletic recruit ever.
The Nittany Lion ice hockey team announced its 2025-26 non-conference schedule Wednesday, which includes the suddenly anticipated debut of Gavin McKenna, the expected No. 1 pick in next year's NHL Draft.
Coach Guy Gadowsky's team is a national championship betting favorite since adding McKenna and a few other Canadian Hockey League stars following last fall's NCAA eligibility rule change.
The ice hockey team will follow the lead of coach James Franklin's football team, the women's volleyball team and its perennial No. 1 wrestling team as top national title contenders in the coming year.
For ice hockey, those expectations only began rising a few months ago, when the Lions caught fire down the stretch of their breakthrough season and barreled into their first Frozen Four.
Since, they've elevated their strong returning core of players with a host of CHL standouts, like defenseman Jackson Smith, the No. 14 pick in this year's NHL Draft, and forward Luke Misa, a top Calgary Flames prospect.
Then they became the talk of college hockey by landing McKenna. He was the top CHL player last year and is regarded as, perhaps, the top hockey prospect, for his age, in the world.
McKenna (6-foot, 170 pounds) is the third-youngest player to win the top CHL award, behind only legendary Sidney Crosby and NHL all-star John Tavares. McKenna accomplished that with a stunning season of production and creativity for the Medicine Hat Tigers, highlighted by a 54-game scoring streak, the CHL's longest in 25 years.
McKenna talked during his ESPN announcement about bypassing another year in the CHL in order to develop against the bigger, older players in NCAA hockey. In picking PSU over hockey stalwart Michigan State and others, McKenna reportedly received and "extremely generous six-figure offer" that may be the richest regarding NIL and revenue sharing in hockey, according to ESPN.
He expects to play just one season in college.
On Tuesday, Gadowsky gushed about McKenna during a 30-minute media session with reporters. Every other question was about the 17-year-old Canadian forward.
“I was fortunate enough to grow up to watch Wayne Gretzky play from Edmonton, and I think one of the things that makes (McKenna) so special is that he is so creative,” Gadowsky said. "His mind is just very different, and there’s no way that I or anybody else on our staff thinks like Gavin does. He is a very, very special, special, special athlete who thinks very differently. And I’m gonna enjoy watching him. By no means am I ever going to talk to him about how his mind creates. That’s him and it’s going to be really fun to watch.”
Penn State opens its season Oct. 3-4 at Arizona State. The Lions will celebrate their Frozen Four appearance and McKenna's home debut at the Pegula Ice Arena on Oct. 9-10 against Clarkson.
The Lions also will play home non-conference series against Long Island (Oct. 17-18) and Stonehill (Oct. 24-25).
"I’m pumped for the Penn Staters that get to watch this guy," Gadowsky said.
“He’s so fun to watch because of his physical skill level but also how his mind is able to slow things down and create."
Penn State will announce its 2025-26 Big Ten schedule at a later date.
Frank Bodani covers Penn State sports for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: When Penn State ice hockey star Gavin McKenna makes his NCAA debut
Category: General Sports
