Scouting Report: How Gavin McKenna dominated the WHL and what he'll bring to Penn State

Sept 24, 2022: a 14-year-old Gavin McKenna makes his WHL debut. About 14 minutes in, he catches a puck along the wall, cuts inside as he evades an opponent, and passes across the slot, between three defenders, for his first WHL point. It was the first of four primary assists that night.  

That play set the stage for one of the most prolific scorers in modern junior hockey history. He had 18 points in 16 games before even being eligible to play full-time. He had 97 points in 61 games as a 16-year-old. Then, 2.30 points per game this past season, powered by a 54-game point streak, the longest in CHL history. 

No matter the angle, it’s clear that McKenna is a special generator of offence. He is, without a doubt, the CHL’s best passer since Mitchell Marner and Connor McDavid.

Just take a look at the video:

So, how does he do it, and what can we expect from McKenna moving forward as he heads to Penn State and then, likely, the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft?

Superstar habits for cycle dominance

If that video didn’t make it clear, McKenna is lethal along the walls. On the cycle, he’s unstoppable, burying opponents in an avalanche of passes into and across the slot for chances. More than pure speed or 1-on-1 moves, he dominates through his uniquely consistent habits and dynamic skating ability. 

First, scanning. McKenna doesn’t receive a puck and then look for options. Watch him in isolation – he’s constantly moving his head and looking for options without possession. So, before even touching the puck, he knows the next play – whether that’s a one-touch pass across the slot or a quick cut inside before passing. As he twists and turns, dances and dangles, his head’s up the entire time, looking for options low and high. 

Then, there’s how McKenna skates – it’s all crossovers, lightning-quick stop-starts, and impossibly tight turns instead of strides and glides. He’s always on an outside edge, allowing him to accelerate instantly without having to load his weight first. Every move leads into the next, a stop on the left becomes a turn to the right and then crossovers for the escape.

Those skating movements are also naturally deceptive, which McKenna pushes even further. If he’s circling high, he’s often using it to create space low, accessible with an explosive cutback and vice-versa. As he steps inside, he fakes a shot or pass, bringing the defence with him, opening passing lanes. He fakes or looks off his target on just about every pass possible, even on 10-footers, knowing that every bit of space he can create for his recipient matters. And he layers all these elements in quick succession, making him nearly impossible to read. 

For true cycle dominance, players don’t just need to have puck skills, agility, and deception; they need to have puck acquisition skills. Some players do it through overpowering strength or subtle physical skills. McKenna, once again, does it through habits and a lot of foresight. 

So far, we haven’t seen McKenna take a puck along the walls flatfooted. That’s a product of his off-puck movement. Instead of crowding his teammate along the wall, he hangs back, trusting that they’ll spot him, and then accelerates towards the pass. Or, he circles high, cuts across the top of the blueline, and catches a pass with speed moving straight down the middle. 

With a speed differential created, he’s usually looking to cut inside and get to work. But even if such opportunity doesn’t arise, that speed makes his cutbacks along the walls more effective since defenders have to accelerate more and decelerate quicker to keep up. 

Endless cycling? Forget it, McKenna wants to get inside as fast as possible, using those skills to break free to the middle at the first sign of vulnerability. But he also doesn’t force it needlessly, as he’s already struck that perfect balance between risk and reward along the walls.

With all those skills, McKenna’s options along the walls are basically endless. Some of his favourites: 

• Accelerate up the wall, cut across the top, walk inside, and pass across the slot.
• Accelerate down the wall, cutback, and spin a puck to the net front.
• Cut across the top of the zone and shoot for a deflection.
• Cut off the wall, hip pocket hold, and pass across the slot or back door.
• Stop up, look high, slip pass low to lead his teammate into space.

For most prospects, even top ones, having one elite dimension is enough, but we’re just getting started. 

Dynamic rushing and the art of the trailer

Off the rush, McKenna is 1-of-1 in the CHL. He’s one of the most dynamic rushers around, capable of going end-to-end with ease. Just like the other big-time rushers, he manipulates defenders with crossovers to gain the middle or create space to the outside. He also shows a ton of maturity in his game, and always has. Where many players challenge opponents 1-on-1, he looks to break the defence with his passing and off-puck movement. He creates intricate passing webs that move through all three zones. 

But where he’s unmatched in his two areas: Trailer use and changes of pace. 

No one uses the trailer more than McKenna. Whether it’s a simple drop pass or a diagonal cross-ice pass to the activating defenceman, he connects with every possible option on the rink. Where many players shoot, even deep in the slot, he creatively finds an even better option. 

Most of that trailer usage becomes accessible to McKenna because of his change-of-pace game. Many players feel pressure arriving and choose to outrace it – with more failures than successes. McKenna weaponizes pressure, letting it arrive before making a play through it. Sometimes, he just slows down, draws pressure, and passes through it. But he’s often using those same manipulation skills that he uses along the walls. He fakes a drive, only to cut back, accelerate, and find a teammate about to rush the slot, or he engages multiple defenders, cuts across them to bait a chase, and then finds a teammate in his wake. And sometimes, a fake pass or shot is all it takes. 

Just like how no prospect uses the trailer more, no prospect weaponizes being the trailer more than McKenna. He prefers to play the short support game, getting open as the trailer or staying between checks just a few metres away from the puck carrier, ensuring his teammates always have him as the easiest and best option. It also means that he usually has a bit of space to work with when the puck arrives. 

When McKenna has a bit of space with which to work, his ability to stretch passing lanes and maximize the likelihood of his teammate finding twine shines. 

For most players, when they see a teammate, they pass. Good ones will often wait a second before passing, letting their teammate arrive in shooting position first. Great ones, like McKenna, will often move away from their passing target laterally as the target gets open. The pass has to cover more distance, but that means that the goaltender has to cover more distance across their net, too. 

Inside a bit of space, that’s McKenna’s instinct. It’s visible in every video so far. Inside space, he works across the defence, even just a step or two, sells a shot or something else, and then rips the puck away across the space he just emptied to a now open and dangerous teammate. 

With every passing skill in the book, it’s no surprise that McKenna is a statistical powerhouse – and it goes even deeper than points. When it comes to generating scoring chances at 5-on-5 in the last decade of CHL action, only Connor McDavid’s draft year and Mitchell Marner’s draft-plus-one season compare. 

McKenna’s 2.6 expected primary assists per 60, shot assists weighted by likelihood of a goal, is tied with both for the highest mark since 2015. He attempted – and completed – more slot passes per 60 than both by a large margin, while still having an above-average completion rate. Looking at passes that create time and space for his teammates, he blew both of them out of the water (40 per 60, compared to 32 for Marner, 31 for McDavid), largely thanks to his superior transition passing at the same stage of development. 

Of course, junior hockey has changed significantly since then. High-end playmakers are more common in junior hockey because of the evolution of offensive zone play, emphasis on cross-slot passing, and the continually increasing skill level of younger players. But McKenna simply doesn’t have any modern comparables either – he’s unlike any other. 

Scoring touch

With all that ability to manipulate defenders and get open, it should come as no surprise that McKenna is a goalscorer, too. There’s the downright ridiculous: Michigans, dangles into snipes, and unique moves only possible because of his dynamic lateral skating and outside edge skills. 

What really powers McKenna’s goalscoring are three elements, in order of importance to the NHL: One-timers and off-the-catch shooting skill, off-puck movement and timing, and ability to shoot through and around traffic. 

McKenna doesn’t have a blistering one-timer, but his ability to space the ice to force the goaltender to move further, precisely place pucks, and fire from compromised positions will make him a power play threat in the NHL. At 5-on-5, watch for those same short support routes to accumulate catch-and-release shots off the rush, often placed low, and he always adjusts his feet and body to receive the puck straight in his shooting pocket. 

As McKenna develops his physical skills, we’ll also likely see more of his net-front game. At times, he wins races off the wall, gets inside position, and shows a knack for tipping down shots or making skilled plays in tight under pressure. 

Of course, the mere threat of his playmaking will open plenty of scoring opportunities, too. So while playmaking is his defining element, 40 goals isn’t out of the question long-term, provided he’s in an environment that enables his non-stop movement and off-the-catch scoring ability to shine. 

Looking ahead

If there’s one concern with McKenna, it’s that he’s more of a specialist than other super-elite prospects, even more than Connor Bedard was. His game has evolved considerably, becoming an elite transition carrier this year, but his physical impact remains very small and defensive impact inconsistent. He flashes both, especially when the games matter most, but winning pucks and shutting down opponents remain his two biggest areas for growth. The former will be particularly important moving forward, as most pure off-puck geniuses can’t accumulate high volumes of touches in the tighter checking, fast-paced NHL. 

Enter the NCAA. McKenna will likely lead college hockey in scoring. But even though scoring chances are generated in Big Ten at the same rate as junior hockey, and Penn State has a high-scoring roster, there will be challenges along the way. The more physically mature, assertive, and positionally-disciplined forwards that populate college hockey will punish his mistakes more often and force him to use his body and engage in more battles. 

In short, college hockey provides the perfect opportunity for McKenna to take the next step and prepare himself to step into the NHL as an immediate star. 

Whether McKenna is a “generational prospect” is a worthy debate, but he’s very possibly a generational scorer. He’s a point-getting machine who generates the majority of his offence in translatable ways to the NHL. 

Whichever NHL team ends up lucky enough to draft him should build its offensive identity around his unique combination of cycle playmaking, trailer use, and elite scoring ability. And doing so, they very well could be rewarded with an Art Ross Trophy-level scorer.