Gavin McKenna is the uncontested face of the next generation of hockey players.
Over three years in the Western Hockey League, McKenna was the WHL’s No. 1 draft pick, the CHL’s No. 1 rookie and the CHL’s No. 1 player.
And now, two weeks shy of his highly anticipated NCAA debut with the Penn State Nittany Lions, he is No. 1 in the TSN Pre-Season NHL Draft Ranking.
He was a unanimous choice, collecting every first-place vote from the 10 NHL scouts surveyed by TSN.
That is not a surprising outcome for the former Medicine Hat Tiger.The hockey world has been awaiting this coming season since he burst upon the WHL as a 14-year-old, earning four primary assists Sept. 24, 2022 in his first appearance.
His major-junior career culminated with a record 54-game point streak last season that included two of the most dazzling plays of the year – an assist vs. Kamloops and a goal vs. Prince Albert.
Must See: McKenna’s ‘mastery’ produces ridiculous goal Watch as top NHL prospect Gavin McKenna scores one of the most ridiculous goals you will ever see, in Game 2 of the Medicine Hat Tigers’ playoff series against the Prince Albert Raiders.
Must See: ‘We are not worthy!’ – McKenna makes magic happen with unbelievable assist 17-year-old exceptional status star Gavin McKenna dazzles with an unbelievable spinning assist to Hunter St. Martin for the Medicine Hat Tigers.
TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button labels him a surefire NHL franchise player.
McKenna is the headliner of the first class of players eligible to go from the Canadian Hockey League to the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
But McKenna is not the only ex-WHLer turning to the NCAA to fine-tune his game in their draft year.
Former Victoria Royal defenceman Keaton Verhoeff is now a member of the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks and a definitive choice as the No. 2 prospect in TSN’s pre-season ranking.
Nine of 10 scouts placed him second on their lists.
Button compares Verhoeff to Florida’s two-time Stanley Cup-winning defenceman Aaron Ekblad, the No. 1 overall pick in 2014. They are both heavy defencemen who play terrific two-way games.
Ekblad had 24 goals in his draft year with Barrie. Verhoeff had 21 goals in this draft year-minus one with Victoria.
Rounding out the top five are a trio of left wingers: a smallish Swede and two behemoth Canadians.
– No. 3 Ivar Stenberg is 5-foot-10 and playing for Frolunda in the Swedish League after averaging nearly two points per game against junior competition last season.
– No. 4 Ryan Roobroeck is 6-foot-4 and coming off a season of 41 goals for Windsor, most by any CHLer in the 2026 draft pool.
– No. 5 Ethan Belchetz is 6-foot-5, 227 pounds and fresh off sharing the Team Canada lead in points in the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
It’s the first time in memory that four left wingers – and no centres – have started the season as the top five prospects in TSN’s pre-season ranking.
McKenna is following in the skate prints of another left winger, his favourite player and the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft, Patrick Kane.
But first comes what is expected to be his one and only collegiate season.
Could the first-year Nittany Lion go back-to-back as CHL Player of the Year and U.S. College Player of the Year?
Unprecedented. But not impossible.
Macklin Celebrini won the Hobey Baker Award as a 17-year-old Boston University freshman before going No. 1 in the 2024 NHL draft.McKenna turns 18 on Dec. 20.
Sixteen players emerged as consensus first-rounders in the TSN survey, including a top six that separated itself from the rest: McKenna, Verhoeff, Stenberg, Roobroeck, Belchetz and Muskegon centre Tynan Lawrence, who earned 2025 USHL MVP playoff honours.
Fifty-five of the 60 rankings assigned in the top six players by the 10 scouts – some 92 per cent – were spread among those six players.
The next tier of prospects has No. 7 Vancouver Giants right defenceman Ryan Lin, No. 8 Djurgardens Jr. centre Viggo Björck, No. 9 Prince Albert right defenceman Daxon Rudolph, No. 10 Sault Ste. Marie right defenceman Chase Reid and No. 11 Prince George left defenceman Carson Carels.
The final grouping consists of No. 12 Peterborough left winger Adam Novotny, No. 13 Spokane Chiefs centre Mathis Preston, No. 14 MoDo Jr. right winger Elton Hermansson, No. 15 Djurgardens Jr. right winger Marcus Nordmark and No. 16 HV71 Jr. left defenceman Malte Gustafsson.
Preston is one of only three centres – Lawrence and Björck are the others – compared to eight in the top echelon last year.
As for who missed the consensus elite 16 – which represents the number of teams in the annual draft lottery – none was closer to making the cut than Xavier Villeneuve of Blainville-Boisbriand, last year’s Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League defenceman of the year.
Villeneuve is listed as 5-foot-10. No sub-6 foot defenceman was drafted in the entire 2025 draft.
The Top 16 1. Gavin McKenna, LW – Penn State
Gavin McKenna
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPMedicine Hat (WHL)5′111625641129
2. Keaton Verhoeff, RD – North Dakota
Keaton Verhoeff
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPVictoria (WHL)6′3 1/2207632145
3. Ivar Stenberg, LW – Frolunda
Ivar Stenberg Ivar Stenberg (Leila Devlin/Getty Images)
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPFrolunda (SWE J20)5′10179272653
4. Ryan Roobroeck, LW – Niagara Falls
Ryan Roobroeck
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPNiagara Falls (OHL)6′4215644187
5. Ethan Belchetz, LW – Windsor
Ethan Belchetz (Michael Miller/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPWindsor (OHL)6′5227561738
6. Tynan Lawrence, C – Muskegon
Tynan Lawrence (Michael Miller/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPMuskegon (USHL)6′0170562554
7. Ryan Lin, RD – Vancouver
Ryan Lin
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPVancouver (WHL)5′1117060553
8. Viggo Bjorck, C – Djurgarden U20
Viggo Bjorck (Leila Devlin/Getty Images)
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPDjurgarden (SWE J20)5′9171422774
9. Daxon Rudolph, RD – Prince Albert
Daxon Rudolph (CHL Images)
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPPrince Albert (WHL)6′219664741
10. Chase Reid, RD – Sault Ste. Marie
Chase Reid (CHL Images)
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPSault Ste. Marie (OHL)6′218239740
11. Carson Carels, LD – Prince George
Carson Carels
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPPrince George (WHL)6′1 1/218960635
12. Adam Novotny, LW – Peterborough
Adam Novotny
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPMountfield (CZE)6′12044113
13. Mathis Preston, C – Spokane
Mathis Preston (Larry Brunt)
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPSpokane (WHL)5′11167542345
14. Elton Hermansson, RW – MoDo Jr.
Elton Hermansson
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPOrebro (SWE J20)6′1176411736
15. Marcus Nordmark, RW – Djurgarden Jr.
Marcus Nordmark (ANDREAS SANDSTRÖM/BILDBYRÅN)
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPDjurgarden (SWE J20)6′118317918
16. Malte Gustafsson, LD – HV71 Jr.
Malte Gustafsson (Aron Broman)
2024-25 Stats
TeamHTWTGPGPHV71 (SWE J20)6′41903628