College Hockey’s ‘Drop the Mic’ Moment : College Hockey News

July 8, 2025

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by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor (@chn-adam-wodon)

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Gavin McKenna’s commitment to Penn State is college hockey’s “drop the mic” moment.

It was already building, and there will be other big names after him, but when, for the first time ever, a so-called “generational talent” decides to leave Canadian Major Juniors for the NCAA, then it’s game over.

When the rule changed allowing Major Junior players to still be eligible for the NCAA, everyone knew it would open up the door to hundreds of 20-year olds to come to college hockey programs. It would flood the NCAA with more talent than ever before.

But initially, no one was quite sure what to expect out of 18-year olds. Would Canada’s top talent want to come to the NCAA? Would college hockey continue to get players like Macklin Celebrini, Owen Power and Adam Fantilli — guys who spent a year in the USHL to retain NCAA eligibility because they wanted to play college hockey? Instead, would that kind of player just go to Major Junior and never step foot in the NCAA?

Well, we have our answer. At first it was a trickle. Then it was a flood. Then McKenna put the exclamation point on it.

Young players, their families, their agents, and even most of the NHL executives are saying loudly and clearly — the NCAA is the best next-level progression for a player’s development path.

To someone who has been around college hockey for 35-plus years, this is somewhat mind-blowing.

Do you know how many times I’ve heard over the years — especially from Canadians — that Major Junior was “obviously” the best route to the NHL. They played more games, there were better players, and that’s just the way it is. It was considered a given, and to challenge this dogma, was to receive nothing but sneers. Obviously I wasn’t the only one hearing this, this was the widespread prevailing wisdom in hockey for decades.

In Canadian Major Junior inner circles, they’re still saying it. But no one is listening now.

When I was working in the minor leagues, our coach was a former NHL center. I was hired for a broadcasting job based off a resume tape of the 1997 NCAA semifinal between BU and Michigan. I didn’t hide my fondness for NCAA hockey, and didn’t think I had to. I wasn’t saying anything negative about any other path, or the minor leagues. But these old-school NHL guys just couldn’t contain themselves, giving me constant grief about college hockey. This coach said flat out to me that college hockey players were — and I quote — “junior B pukes that couldn’t make major junior.”

Mind you, we had about six or seven former NCAA players on our roster, and won a league championship, so … insert shrug emoji.

I don’t know if everyone in pro hockey was that extreme, but it was closer to what most NHL execs thought than not.

In 1998 — just 1 NCAA player was taken in the entire first round of the NHL Draft.

Gradually over the years, the quality of play in the NCAA improved, and for better or worse, more and more blue chip talent came in. (I say “better or worse,” because … see below.)

Next year, it’s expected that McKenna and Keaton Verhoeff will go 1-2 in the NHL Draft. Verhoeff is another 17-year old who is going from the WHL to North Dakota next season. College hockey has had 1-2 in the NHL Draft before, including 2024 with Macklin Celebrini and Arytom Levshunov, and 2021 with Owen Power and Matty Beniers.

But this is different, because these players are making a conscious decision, after already being in Major Junior, to leave those teams, because they believe playing in the NCAA for one season is better for their hockey development.

I never believed that old conventional wisdom myself. But the exodus of Major Junior’s top-end talent to the NCAA, in their draft year, or draft-plus-one season, completely obliterates that belief once and for all. It’s over. Hockey people now believe that the NCAA model — fewer games, more practices, competition against older, bigger players — is better for development after those initial junior years. This may become even more obvious in the next couple weeks if NHL teams that just drafted CHL players, steer them towards the NCAA for one year, as is being discussed.

It’s hard not to be a bit smug about it all at this point, given all the grief absorbed over the years. 

And who can forget all the poaching of NCAA players to Major Junior over the years, with some players reportedly enticed by under-the-table money. The NCAA was never able to fight back. Now it can, and it’s winning. So no one south of the border is shedding a tear for the CHL teams.

I have no idea what the future holds. It’s possible, if not likely, that the CHL adjusts and finds ways to keep these players in the future. But for right now … 

Drop the mic.

* * *

Of course, beside the insanity of hockey’s next likely superstar choosing to play in college, the conversation has also revolved around the money, for better or worse.

We don’t know if Gavin McKenna is coming to college because of the NIL money, or if he would have come anyway — like Celebrini, etc… — because it’s genuinely a better path. We’ll probably never know that, and at this point, it probably doesn’t matter. But do you really think any of these guys would leave Major Junior if they thought playing in the NCAA would hurt them? In many cases, NHL teams are openly encouraging them to go.

Some may find the whole enterprise distasteful, but no one should be singling out Penn State in particular. It’s playing by the same new crazy set of rules as everyone else. It’s trying to make a splash, and parlay last year’s Frozen Four appearance into something bigger. And why not?

Penn State has always been a program on track to eventually play in the big-boy recruiting pool with the likes of Michigan, Wisconsin, Boston College and Boston University. No reason why, even without all these changes, it wouldn’t have happened eventually.

The Frozen Four appearance, and the ability to give out all this NIL money, may have fast-tracked this trajectory, but it was coming.

So, feel free to lament the overall state of affairs if you find it distasteful. But targeting Penn State specifically over this, is foolish and unfair.

It is fair to ask, however, what this all means for the national championship aspirations of Penn State, or any of the teams targeting this high-end talent.

As is well-discussed by now, no team that relies on a good amount of one-and-done type of player, has ever won a national championship. Many Big Ten schools, and BU and BC, have come close in recent years, but it still hasn’t happened. There’s been a constant debate of whether those schools should not rely so heavily on that type of player. You need depth. You need the commitment and passion of four-year players. By the same token, it’s hard to say no to those blue chippers if they want to play for you.

So now we’ve just ratcheted that up to another level. And all the teams bringing in these high-end Major Junior players are going to be in the same circumstance as teams that brought in “regular” first-round type talent in recent years.

There’s another aspect to this too: Some teams are bringing in these players really late in the game. School starts next month, for heaven’s sake. That means players who had already been recruited and committed, sometimes for years, and were aching to play for that university, will now be cast aside at the last minute. That is not fun at all to those players and families.

And how do you manage a roster of players, who now know how much money their teammate is getting, in a one-and-done situation? Will these locker room issues cause a problem? Are you better off without that?

Will the talent be amped up so high with these teams, that one will finally get over the hump anyway, despite the drawbacks? Or will the schools like Denver, Western Michigan and Quinnipiac — who, let’s face it, are also bringing in Major Junior players, but not at that level — continue to win national championships with older rosters, with more four-year players?

* * *

To many, the idea that college hockey has “won,” may be an empty victory. Everyone talks about “growing the game,” but at what cost?

As excited as many in college hockey may be to have this influx of talent, there are others who are put off by how things have become. I can totally understand that. Which side you fall on, is a personal choice. Maybe you’re torn.

I honestly wish it were different. I believe in amateurism and the traditional college athletics values. I’ve never been naive to the bevy of issues in college sports, but the underlying principles I always have believed in — playing for a school, being part of the student body, staying for four years through thick and thin. 

Now with the money, and even moreso, the unlimited transferring, college sports has gotten turned on its head. It’s fascinating, but for many, also not the same. That’s not an “old man yelling at the cloud” opinion, that’s a genuine love for what made college sports different than pro sports.

Frankly, in my perfect world, there’s no such thing as NIL money, cutthroat recruiting, and one-and-done players.

But, as a life-long hockey fan, as well, I’m not gonna lie: Having all these big-time players coming through college hockey is pretty exciting. And it will be fascinating to see all the dynamics play out.

The free agent frenzy is here in college hockey, and it won’t end any time soon. Either jump ship and stop caring about the sport as a fan, or embrace the ride.

Drop the mic puck.