Happy Valley just got even happier.

Gavin McKenna, considered a generational talent and the favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, will play at Penn State University this season.

The 17-year-old forward announced his decision Tuesday on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

“It was a super tough decision,” McKenna said. “Obviously there’s a lot of great options out there, but I think me, my family and everyone that was kind of part of my circle, we all decided the best spot for me next year will be Penn State University. Penn State is a great spot for me. I got to kind of get a taste of what it’s like there and got to bring along my dad, and we both thought it was a great spot for me.”

This will be the first season Canadian Hockey League players are eligible to play NCAA hockey after a rule change last year. Previously they had been considered professionals because some CHL players had signed NHL entry-level contracts.

Though others previously have announced their intent to play NCAA hockey, McKenna is the most high-profile player to do so.

One of the reasons McKenna cited was the chance to play against older, more physically developed competition.

“I think [college] honestly just makes the jump [to the NHL] easier,” he said. “Going against older, heavier, stronger guys, I think it really prepares you. I think even in the locker room, hanging around older guys and being around more mature guys, I think that will help me a lot in my first season. Obviously, the [WHL] was a great spot, and I’m very grateful for what it did for me and my family. I think both options are great, but I just think that going to college and being in such a great conference, it’ll really challenge me and prepare me.”

McKenna was second in the Western Hockey League last season with 129 points (41 goals, 88 assists) in 56 games with Medicine Hat, and was third in the WHL playoffs with 38 points (nine goals, 29 assists) in 16 games to help the Tigers reach the Memorial Cup, the four-team CHL championship tournament.

He was third in scoring at the Memorial Cup with six points (three goals, three assists) in four games as Medicine Hat lost 4-1 to London in the championship game. McKenna scored Medicine Hat’s goal.

“McKenna (5-foot-11, 162 pounds) is in a special category that you only come across every few years,” NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr said. “His offensive instincts and playmaking game are truly exceptional and it’s his composure, compete and maturity that really sell you on his talent. His game resembles the likes of Patrick Kane and Doug Gilmour, who both had slight builds and were able to utilize their talents to produce and use those same smarts and wits to protect themselves from hockey’s physical elements.”

McKenna finished the regular season with points in 40 straight games (100 points; 32 goals, 68 assists), and then had a point in his first 14 playoff games (37 points; eight goals, 29 assists). The combined 54-game streak (137 points; 40 goals, 97 assists) set a modern CHL record (since 2000).

He won the Four Broncos Trophy as WHL Player of the Year and the CHL David Branch Player of the Year Award.

McKenna is the third-youngest player to win the CHL player of the year award, after John Tavares (2006-07) and Sidney Crosby (2003-04), each of whom was 16 at the time.

McKenna also scored one goal in five games for Canada as its youngest player at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship.

“His trajectory is generational because when you compare where he is at the same age to some of these other players to get to the NHL as 18-year-olds and have an impact, he’s on that same path,” Central Scouting associate director David Gregory said. “When you think of the key skills you have to have in the NHL … you have to be smart, you have to be able to skate and you have to be able to compete. Those three important skills are maybe his three best skills, so we’re not even talking about how great his hands are.

“We don’t use the term ‘five-tool player’ in hockey as much as you hear it used in other sports, but McKenna’s one of those guys. He’s got it.”