![\"Gavin](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2190877622.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Team Canada’s Gavin McKenna. <\/p>\n
For those expecting to get a glimpse of projected 2026 NHL<\/a> Draft No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna playing for Team Canada in this year\u2019s Winter Olympics<\/a> in Italy, you\u2019re just going to have to wait.<\/p>\n McKenna, 18 years old, has been a star for Team Canada on the junior level but with NHL players allowed to play in the Winter Olympics in 2026 for the first time since 2014, he\u2019ll have to wait until the 2030 games in the French Alps before he gets his shot at chasing a gold medal.<\/p>\n For now, McKenna, who currently stars for Penn State, will have to stay home and watch NHL superstars like Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid take the ice for Team Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n Finland is the reigning Olympic champion \u2014 Team Canada won the last 2 Olympic gold medals in which NHL players were allowed to compete.<\/p>\n From NHL.com<\/a>: \u201cThe tournament, the first with NHL players since the 2014 Sochi Olympics, will feature all 12 teams playing three preliminary games in their respective groups, then all 12 moving on to a single-elimination playoff that will conclude with the gold medal game Feb. 22.\u201d<\/p>\n McKenna\u2019s Future in Doubt After Shocking Arrest<\/p>\n The hockey world got thrown into a tizzy on Wednesday when news broke that McKenna had been arrested for felony assault in State College, Pennsylvania, after allegedly breaking a man\u2019s jaw in a fight outside a bar.<\/p>\n \u201cMcKenna, an 18-year-old native of Canada, was charged with first-degree felony aggravated assault, which is defined as \u2018attempts to cause serious bodily injury or causes injury with extreme indifference\u2019; misdemeanor simple assault; and two summary counts of disorderly conduct for harassment and engaging in a fight,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Greg Wyshynski<\/a> wrote. \u201cThe maximum penalty for first-degree felony aggravated assault in Pennsylvania is 20 years in prison and\/or a $25,000 fine.\u201d<\/p>\n McKenna has starred for Penn State this season after the NCAA changed its rules to allow players to play for both Canadian junior hockey teams and in Division I \u2014 a move that reportedly netted McKenna an NIL deal worth approximately $700,000.<\/p>\n The incident surrounding the arrest came just hours after McKenna scored 1 goal and had 2 assists in a 5-4 loss to Michigan State in front of 74,000 fans at Penn State\u2019s Beaver Stadium. McKenna has 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) through 24 games.<\/p>\n McKenna\u2019s Unlimited Pro Potential on Display<\/p>\n McKenna just got a chance to show off why he\u2019s projected as the No. 1 overall pick on the international stage at the World Junior Championships in January in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he led Team Canada to a Bronze medal.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what we\u2019re seeing at this tournament for him is that among his age group, he is the best offensive player in the world,\u201d TSN hockey and World Juniors analyst Mike Johnson told NHL.com<\/a>. \u201cI think that is the truth. The way he sees the play, the way he can stick-handle, his vision, his passing, even his ability to shoot, which he is sometimes hesitant to do, he can do it all.\u201d<\/p>\n As of February, the Vancouver Canucks<\/a> have the inside track to obtain the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL draft, which will be held on June 26-27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York \u2014 home of the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Olympics\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Team Canada’s Gavin McKenna. For those expecting to get a glimpse of projected 2026 NHL Draft No.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[462],"tags":[5,4,465,466],"class_list":{"0":"post-447552","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl-draft","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-nhl-draft","11":"tag-nhl-entry-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116019647917486305","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}