McKenna turns – Gavin McKenna insists the noise around his fall from top draft status after a difficult Penn State start only sharpened his focus. In Buffalo at the NHL Scouting Combine, the dynamic left winger says he’s used media criticism and an adjustment period from juni
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Gavin McKenna is used to hype. He’s spent years as one of the names most people treat like a lock at the top of the 2026 NHL Draft. But this week at the NHL Scouting Combine, the real test wasn’t the fitness drills or the spotlight — it was the volume of doubt.
McKenna arrived in Buffalo with expectations still heavily tilted toward him, especially with the Toronto Maple Leafs holding the No. 1 pick. If Toronto doesn’t select the dynamic left winger first, it would be a major surprise. Yet he also admits that what happened after the summer talk — and before Christmas — landed differently than he expected.
McKenna said the belief in his No. 1 status had been “cemented at the start of this hockey season in the fall. ” only for that to slip before Christmas as he adapted to NCAA hockey at Penn State from the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League. As his transition got bumpy, other players began surfacing as possible top options and his play was questioned.
For McKenna, it wasn’t just background noise. When the draft talk shifted, he said he got “pretty fired up.”
“For me. when you see yourself at the top since a young age. then you start to see the things in the media that you’re falling down [draft rankings]. having a bad start to the year. you get pretty fired up. ” McKenna said after finishing the fitness testing on Saturday morning. “When I started seeing those things. I got sick and tired [of it] and just kind of used it as fuel. I started working harder off the ice and on the ice. When I started doing that, I just became more confident. When you’re putting in the time and effort, you start to feel good about yourself. I think that’s what helped me.”.
His message to anyone still skeptical is simple: the second half mattered, but the point is bigger than one season segment. McKenna knows doubters don’t disappear just because he improved. The critics will always find something to pick at.
“I mean, I don’t think it’s ever going to go away,” McKenna said of the negative commentary. “Some people will always [think] what they think of me and some of it might not be good. so I don’t think it’ll ever go away. But [learning how to respond this year is] something that I’ll carry with me forever. I learned hard work is a key to confidence. I think seeing all that [negative] stuff. it’s good to remember how key hard work is and that’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my career.”.
Even the draft itself feels personal in his mind. McKenna grew up idolizing Patrick Kane and has long carried a reputation built on offensive ability. but he also knows there’s one talking point that won’t go away — his size. Listed at five-foot-11 and 170 pounds coming into the Combine. he said he wanted the testing and the work to show he can compete.
“I wanted to prepare hard for this,” McKenna said. “My frame is not the biggest, so I wanted to show I could compete out there and can work hard off the ice.”
That drive to prove himself has a clear through-line: when McKenna describes why his game took time to catch up, he points to the gap between junior hockey in Medicine Hat and the NCAA. He says the college game demanded more than just skill — it demanded adaptation.
“In college. the guys are bigger. stronger. faster and the game itself is just a little different than junior. it’s more straightforward hockey. ” McKenna said. “I found out early on that nothing is going happen easily. I think once I got to world juniors I kind of got my confidence back and figure out the game a bit more. started working harder off the ice and on the ice and getting in the dirty areas a bit more and that’s why I started producing more. You kind of learn how to play in that environment and obviously. that’s going to carry through to the NHL. To get that experience, figuring out how to play [against bigger competition] has helped me a lot. That’s part of the reason I went to college.”.
McKenna doesn’t talk like someone finished with the season either. His Penn State team’s run ended early, with the program bounced in late March before April’s Frozen Four. But once his Penn State schedule was over, he said he didn’t step back.
“As soon as my season was done, I didn’t really take a break, I wanted to prepare for the Combine,” he said. “I was training hard in Kelowna [with fellow prospects Liam and Markus Ruck and Mathis Preston].”
For a player who’s spent years under a microscope. the Combine is also about handling what comes after it — the waiting. the chatter. and the stakes of where you land. McKenna said his profile has been high “for years” leading up to this draft. and he’s already played in two World Junior Championships with Canada. He also offered a candid reason he’d like to land in Toronto.
Lord help the Leafs if they don’t take this kid, because the chip on his shoulder would follow him if he slid to No. 2. If that happened, McKenna said he’d still feel something about the idea of playing for a Canadian club.
“If that was the case, I’d be pretty pumped,” McKenna said. “As a Canadian kid, going to a Canadian market would be pretty special.”
He also addressed what it means to be chosen first. Being at the top of the draft usually signals a team down on its luck, and he acknowledged the Leafs took heat during the past season. Still, he expects a bounce-back.
“Obviously. the situation the Leafs are in right now. it’s pretty crazy that they got the first-overall pick. ” McKenna said of the Maple Leafs. who finished fifth from the bottom in the NHL and hit on an 8.5 per cent chance of winning the NHL Draft Lottery in May after nine straight years in the playoffs. “[It is] a team that’s probably going to be fighting for the playoffs next year. I’d be fortunate to go there.”.
There’s a reason McKenna talks about preparation with such intensity: he believes the hard work isn’t just what fixes a slump — it’s what creates a long-term edge. He’s also aware that confidence is never permanent in a sport like hockey, especially when everyone is watching your every move.
In the middle of all the pressure, though, he still makes time for gratitude. McKenna’s path to this stage started far from NHL arenas. His earliest hockey days were on outdoor rinks in Whitehorse. and he follows in the footsteps of Ottawa Senators centre Dylan Cozens as the only Yukoners to attend the Combine.
“It’s something I’m very grateful for and something I’ll never take for granted,” McKenna said of seeing his NHL dream get one major step closer to reality. “Once there, he’s certainly better equipped to handle whatever comes his way.”
This is the story McKenna seems to be writing for himself at the Combine: doubts don’t just swirl around him — he’s determined to use them, turn the draft-year challenges into work, and show that the answer to the noise is action on the ice.
MISRYOUM Sports News Gavin McKenna NHL Scouting Combine 2026 NHL Draft Toronto Maple Leafs Penn State Medicine Hat Tigers Western Hockey League World Junior Championships John Chayka Dylan Cozens Patrick Kane Buffalo