F Gavin McKenna - Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL (2026 Draft)

[Bubbles]

LOL glad to see the rest of Canada is getting a glimpse of him.

I've been saying earlier that Medicine Hat desperately needs a right handed sniper to complement McKenna. Martone looks so good on that line.

 

[crosbyshow]

For the WOW factor..as a prospect he is up there with Lemieux and Mcdavid....

I am not saying that he is as good as them at the same age but he is so spectacular

 

[McMozesmadness]

Here's all his points from today. All highlight reel

What a game. What a player

 

[ameselare]

My jaw actually dropped. He's incredible.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Is it just me or has this kid grown a ton over the last year?

He's gonna be a heck of a player.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Is it just me or has this kid grown a ton over the last year?

He's gonna be a heck of a player.

Definitely. He looked tiny (maybe 5’9”) at the beginning of the season. Definitely not anymore.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Definitely. He looked tiny (maybe 5’9”) at the beginning of the season. Definitely not anymore.

That's what I was thinking. He legit looks 2-3 inches taller.

He was listed at 5'10 162lbs like 18 months ago, but he looks like he's closing in on 6'0-6'1 165-170lbs

 

[Juxtaposer]

That's what I was thinking. He legit looks 2-3 inches taller.

He was listed at 5'10 162lbs like 18 months ago, but he looks like he's closing in on 6'0-6'1 165-170lbs

He looks solidly 6’0” right now but given that he’s not even 16.5 years old, it’s not out of the question that he grows another inch or two.

I think it’s pretty special that he improved this much in six month while having a pretty meaningful growth spurt. If he turns up at the start of next season 6’2” and keeps improving at the exponential rate he has this season then we might have to start having some Bedard conversations.

 

[Michoulicious]

Kid is (and always has been) unreal. McDavid (like) level talent, probably a tad below, but who isn't?

People here saying he might no go #1 OA in 2026 are just delirious. Just watch the games. No way there is another player better than him. We would know about it if there was that kind of talent somewhere.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Kid is (and always has been) unreal. McDavid (like) level talent, probably a tad below, but who isn't?

People here saying he might no go #1 OA in 2026 are just delirious. Just watch the games. No way there is another player better than him. We would know about it if there was that kind of talent somewhere.

Not necessarily true, especially how you’ve phrased this.

All the 2008 born players in the USA and Canada (except an ES player) haven’t yet entered junior.

Matthews and Dahlin, the last two players that had insane hype (leaving out the ES CHL players McDavid and Bedard), were not that hyped until their U-17 seasons.

Also, players have rapid developments sometimes. Cooley and Gauthier weren’t even viewed as the two best American centers in their age group coming into the NTDP and then got picked 3 and 5. Slafkovsky wasn’t talked about as a top 5 pick until his draft year. Neither was Hischier. Eiserman had more hype coming into the NTDP than Hagens. McKenna himself didn’t have that much hype prior to this season. Otherwise, he probably gets ES.

No one is saying McKenna isn’t great. The point is that we don’t know what the competition will be. Until we do, we can’t say with much certainty if he will or won’t go 1OA.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

I think it is fair to say McKenna is going to set a pretty significant bar for another player to cross to go above him in the draft. It is definitely to early to say he is a lock for 1OA though.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

I’m far from anti-McKenna, but he’s a smallish, perimeter winger. As good as he is and even if it might be a mistake, teams often prefer big centers that play a two way game. He may be able to keep ahold of that presumptive 1OA spot, but if hypothetically there’s some 6’2 two way center without a real weakness that player could close the gap for NHL teams by June 2026. Look at Michkov. He went seventh. Some of that was other factors, but I think that type of smaller winger archetype is not typically a riser. Usually they are fallers.

And I’m not saying it would be right. I generally agree that it’s hard to believe someone is better, but we see how NHL teams trend as it gets closer to the draft, so we really should see what the field of competitors looks like before saying with any comfortability about what it’s shaping up to be.

I see he went to the "Berkly Catton school of frequently driving the net and attacking the middle of the ice but being labeled a perimeter player"

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I see he went to the "Berkly Catton school of frequently driving the net and attacking the middle of the ice but being labeled a perimeter player"

I don't think whether you drive the net sometimes goes into whether you are perimeter or not. Perimeter players are those that create most of their offense on the perimeter. McKenna does. Most of the star players who he gets compared to do.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Perimeter player is usually used as a knock, a weakness, to describe guys who won't go to the net or appear intimidated by physical play. That's not Mckenna. Every player starts their offence from the perimeter.
Also i'd be really surprised if he isn't moved to center next year. With his skating and playmaking, and he seems to play a 200 foot game. Doesn't cheat on defence at all. Hat would be doing him, and themselves probably, wrong if they don't try him there.
He was also 6'0"ft- 165 lbs last September (15yrs 9months in age).
So there's a good chance that he's not smallish or a winger on draft day.
I agree it's way too early to count out all the other 15 year olds in the world now. Way too soon.

 

[Bubbles]

McKenna himself didn’t have that much hype prior to this season. Otherwise, he probably gets ES.

He had lots of hype actually. He didn't apply for ES. There's a lot of bad reporting on the internet about this matter.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He had lots of hype actually. He didn't apply for ES. There's a lot of bad reporting on the internet about this matter.

Fair enough. I read all the threads in this section of the website and his name didn't stand out any more than the countless players we hear about like 4 or 5 years before their NHL draft that are supposed to be very good. A few years back if you told me McKenna never made it to pro hockey, I wouldn't have batted an eye because I wouldn't have remembered much about who he is.

Maybe he was viewed as that good and it was more of a secret, but it didn't appear that way from what I read here and on social media.

 

[Plastic Joseph]

Fair enough. I read all the threads in this section of the website and his name didn't stand out any more than the countless players we hear about like 4 or 5 years before their NHL draft that are supposed to be very good. A few years back if you told me McKenna never made it to pro hockey, I wouldn't have batted an eye because I wouldn't have remembered much about who he is.

Maybe he was viewed as that good and it was more of a secret, but it didn't appear that way from what I read here and on social media.

He was definitely viewed as a borderline prodigy at least in hockey circles. His season in U18 last year combined with being over a ppg in the WHL as an AP were proof of that. I think he got a lot of attention when he had 4 assists in his WHL debut as a 14 year old. He also absolutely obliterated the Canada Winter Games last year which was just one more thing in a long line of dominance. Sure, he put up a lot of pts vs weaker teams but if you watched him play it was just very apparent that he was multiple levels above any player in that age group.


I do agree he hadn't really got the mass attention of some other players at that age though, and I also agree with your points that we have no idea what will happen in the next 2 years. We have seen enough players basically come out of nowhere from ages 15-17 to become #1 picks that its definitely possible. Its actually very likely that someone will do that and at least challenge him to some degree.

 

[JackSlater]

Whether McKenna is a lock for first reminds me of Spezza back in the day. Viewed as a prodigy of sorts, had a great OHL season as a 15 year old, made Canada's WJC team as a 16year old, seemed like a lock to go #1 for several years. Ended up as the clearcut number 2 by the time he was drafted, and rightly so.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Fair enough. I read all the threads in this section of the website and his name didn't stand out any more than the countless players we hear about like 4 or 5 years before their NHL draft that are supposed to be very good. A few years back if you told me McKenna never made it to pro hockey, I wouldn't have batted an eye because I wouldn't have remembered much about who he is.

Maybe he was viewed as that good and it was more of a secret, but it didn't appear that way from what I read here and on social media.

I sent my family in the Yukon an article about McKenna a year ago, I called him the next hockey phenom and said that after Bedard he was the next possible “generational talent”, and they mentioned everyone there was very excited about him.

 

[bigdog16]

Wow, he has the puck on a string. He looks similar to McDavid without the game changing speed.

 

[landy92mack29]

He's been known of for a long long time out west. Started young by dominating the Brick then played up in Midget his WHL draft year and dominated. Was the clear #1 pick for his draft tore up all 3 of the Pro Selects, Cirkle K and Canada West games.

 

[FLAMESFAN]

I mean his thread is 25 pages long and he won't be drafted for another 2 years.
I'd say that's hype.

 

[Despote]

Meta discussion about whether a prospect is hyped or not is all part of the hype.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Meta discussion about whether a prospect is hyped or not is all part of the hype.

Good point. Seems we have these discussions every year "is Celebrini appropriately hyped?" etc.

 

[Bubbles]

5 PTS and there's still the 3rd.