Gavin McKenna will headline the 2026 NHL Draft class at the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase.

McKenna, the consensus top pick for the 2026 draft, was among 44 players Canada has invited to the World Junior Summer Showcase, set for July. 27- Aug. 2 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship will be held in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, this December.

“Summer events sometimes aren’t the best indicators, but I fully expect McKenna to be one of, if not the, best forward on Canada,” FCHockey regional scout Kareem Elshafey said. “He’s a lock to be on the team in December, so finding what players he fits with lineup wise may be interesting, even though we’re five months away from the tournament.”

McKenna, who is committed to Penn State for the 2025-26 season, was second in the Western Hockey League last season with 129 points (41 goals, 88 assists) in 56 games, and finished third in the WHL playoffs with 38 points (nine goals, 29 assists) in 16 games en route to a Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champion, and added had six points (three goals, three assists) in four games at the Memorial Cup. He was a Canadian Hockey League First Team All Star and the recipient of the Four Broncos Trophy as WHL MVP.

The 5-foot-11 left wing also became the third-youngest player to win CHL Player of the Year, after John Tavares (2007) and Sidney Crosby (2004). Each was 16 at the time.

“My comparison for McKenna has always been Jack Hughes, and that makes his creativity and ability to make plays from nothing as things I like most about his game,” Elshafey said. “I would say he’s a better playmaker than finisher as well which means no matter where he is on the ice, he’s extremely dangerous. It’ll be fascinating to see how he performs at Penn State.”

McKenna is one of three first-time draft eligibles set to participate in the showcase.

Viggo Bjorck and Ivar Stenberg, each a projected top-10 pick in 2026, will also be in attendance to represent Sweden.

“It says that they are at the top of the list for the best prospects on the planet,” FCHockey chief European scout Samuel Tirpak said. “The Swedish national team, for whatever given reason, doesn’t like to take under-age players to these tournaments and the fact that they are here as top-of-the-roster players tells you a lot about their overall quality and expectations put on them as top-eligible prospects for the 2026 draft.”

Bjorck, with Djurgardens IF, set a record in U20 Nationell for the most productive season ever recorded by a player under the age of 17. The 5-foot-9, 172-pound forward led the circuit with 74 points (27 goals, 47 assists) in 42 games.

The 17-year-old represented Sweden three times internationally last season.

Bjorck had two assists in five games at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last August, and five assists in four games at the World Under-17 Challenge in November. He added eight points (four goals, four assists) in seven games at the 2025 IIHF World Under-18 Championship in April.

“What I like the most about Bjorck’s game is his ability to drive offense through his creativity, speed and relentless pressure he builds in transition,” Tirpak said. “He enters the zone with speed and attacks the middle and as a smaller forward, he absolutely should do that and utilize his skillset and he has been doing that for multiple years now in swedish junior league and building towards his draft year. He is relentless and super smart and he uses that to his advantage.”

Stenberg had 53 points (26 goals, 27 assists) in just 27 games with Frolunda in 2025-26, and played 25 games in the SHL, Sweden’s top pro circuit, amassing three points (one goal, two assists).

Internationally, the 6-foot, 180-pound winger had 10 points (four goals, six assists) in five games at the Hlinka Gretzky, 11 points (five goals, six assists) in five games at the World Junior A Challenge, and 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in seven games at the U18 Worlds.

“Stenberg is an interesting case of a player who has been playing above his age group in terms of quality of competition as a pre-draft prospect this past season,” Tirpka said. “I love his playing style, it’s simple, it’s effective and it simply works. He didn’t get the production upon entry into SHL, but he got better with every game and had stellar playoffs and I’m excited to see what he can do on this top of the top level full-time.”