{"id":447994,"date":"2026-02-06T00:29:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T00:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/447994\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T00:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T00:29:17","slug":"gavin-mckenna-assault-case-takes-turn-as-police-confirm-surgery-and-feb-11-court-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/447994\/","title":{"rendered":"Gavin McKenna assault case takes turn as police confirm surgery and Feb. 11 court hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p>PUBLICATION<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagohockeyinsider.com\/collaborators\/sam-walker\" class=\"lediv\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sam Walker<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 5, 2026\u00a0\u00a0(2:06 PM)<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t  &#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/639901.webp.webp\" style=\"width:100%;\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Jan 31, 2026; State College, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions forward Gavin McKenna (72) before the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Beaver Stadium.\" title=\"Jan 31, 2026; State College, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions forward Gavin McKenna (72) before the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Beaver Stadium.\"\/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: James Lang-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Gavin McKenna felony aggravated assault case just got uglier, Penn State hockey and the 2026 NHL Draft are staring at real fallout.<\/p>\n<p>Police allege McKenna struck a 21-year-old male in the face, and that the injuries required corrective facial surgery.<\/p>\n<p>Reporting around the case adds a brutal detail, the man\u2019s jaw was broken and wired shut as part of treatment, according to State College Police.<\/p>\n<p>McKenna was charged with felony aggravated assault plus simple assault, harassment, and disorderly conduct, per both police and Onward State.<\/p>\n<p>He was released on $20,000 unsecured bail after arraignment, according to the police media release.<\/p>\n<p>The preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday, February 11, in Centre County, and police say no further information will be released right now because it\u2019s active.<\/p>\n<p>This is where the hockey part gets messy fast.<\/p>\n<p>Gavin McKenna and Penn State hockey feel the squeeze<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a fan, you can feel the mood swing from \u201clet\u2019s see the facts\u201d to \u201cplease don\u2019t let this derail everything\u201d in about two seconds.<\/p>\n<p>On the ice, McKenna has been electric, 11 goals and 21 assists for 32 points in 24 games for Penn State.<\/p>\n<p>That production is exactly why NHL front offices have been circling him as a potential 2026 first-overall pick.<\/p>\n<p>Before campus, he torched the WHL with Medicine Hat, including a 41-88-129 season, which is video-game stuff.<\/p>\n<p>But none of that insulates him from the real-world consequences of a criminal case.<\/p>\n<p>Penn State now has to manage a roster, a spotlight, and a legal process that will not move at hockey speed.<\/p>\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s hearing is the next hard date to watch, because it\u2019s the first time this story could shift from headlines to actual direction.<\/p>\n<p>Previously on Chicago Hockey Insider<\/p>\n<p>POLL<\/p>\n<p>5 HOURS AGO|421 ANSWERS<\/p>\n<p>Gavin McKenna assault case takes turn as police confirm surgery and Feb. 11 court hearing<\/p>\n<p>Should Penn State suspend Gavin McKenna while the felony aggravated assault case plays out?<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PUBLICATION Sam Walker February 5, 2026\u00a0\u00a0(2:06 PM) &#13; &#13; &#13; Photo credit: James Lang-Imagn Images Gavin McKenna felony&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5115],"tags":[7704,521,37,96,5263,54347,766,5,181,4,2149,54348],"class_list":{"0":"post-447994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-blackhawks","8":"tag-2026-nhl-draft","9":"tag-blackhawks","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-blackhawks","12":"tag-chicagoblackhawks","13":"tag-felony-aggravated-assault","14":"tag-gavin-mckenna","15":"tag-hockey","16":"tag-hockey-news","17":"tag-nhl","18":"tag-penn-state-hockey","19":"tag-preliminary-hearing"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116020862803414450","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447994","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=447994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}