Top 2026 NHL draft prospect Gavin McKenna has attracted a lot of attention over the last month, including from the Blackhawks.
First, there was the felony assault charge levied against the Penn State freshman winger — then dropped two days later — stemming from a Jan. 31 fight outside a college bar.
Then came McKenna’s eye-popping eight-point eruption Friday in an 11-4 win over Ohio State, which turned the spotlight back onto his on-ice surge.
The Yukon Territory native, who just turned 18 in December, now ranks second in the NCAA scoring race with 43 points in 28 games this season, including 25 points in 12 games since returning from the World Junior Championships in early January.
It sounds like the Hawks have noticed McKenna improving his all-around game. Although they were skeptical about him earlier this season, that’s no longer the case.
Plus, the felony charge is unlikely to affect his NHL draft stock now that it has been dropped. (He is still facing a misdemeanor charge, but his hearing has been delayed and Penn State has not issued any internal discipline.)
There has never been any doubt about McKenna’s giftedness offensively, which explains why he entered the season as the projected No. 1 overall pick and why his highlight reels tend to woo online fans quickly.
His best attributes are his fantastic hands. He can mold the puck with his stick like a bowl on a potter’s wheel. He controls it effortlessly, making slight movements to keep it away from opponents before getting it to the perfect angle for the next motion.
He combines that with excellent vision, play-reading, elusiveness and creativity. He’s primarily a pass-first guy. Thirty of his 43 points this season are assists, as were 88 of his ridiculous 129 points (in 56 games) in the WHL last season.
However, McKenna disappointed many scouts and lost his status as the projected No. 1 pick this fall due to inconsistent work ethic and effort levels, particularly defensively and on the backcheck.
Like many teenage prospects, he needs to gain weight and strength — he’s listed at 6-0 and 170 pounds — but he was also allowing himself to get pushed around and forced to the perimeter more easily than he should’ve been. The adjustment from junior to college hockey proved more difficult for him than expected.
As time has gone on, he has grown considerably, showcasing a more mature defensive game and learning how to physically match up against older, bigger opponents. It doesn’t hurt that he’s outscoring his weaknesses to an even greater degree now, too.
The Hawks have heavily valued work ethic in draft decisions throughout general manager Kyle Davidson’s tenure, so McKenna’s growth in that regard suddenly makes him a viable fit for him again. And the biggest missing piece from the Hawks’ future core is one more dynamic offensive winger, and he would certainly check that box.
There’s still much left to be determined before the 2026 draft takes place in late June, though, both in terms of McKenna’s progression and the Hawks’ draft pick. If the season ended today, they would have only a 15.2% chance of winning the lottery for a top-two pick and much higher odds of picking sixth or seventh.
Swedish forward Ivar Stenberg, another frontrunner to be the No. 1 pick, continues to play extremely well against pros overseas. He has avoided controversies and has been more well-rounded than McKenna from the start.
Meanwhile, Latvian defenseman Alberts Smits was sublime as a teenager in the Olympics, pushing himself into conversation for top defenseman in the class alongside Keaton Verhoeff and Chase Reid.
The Hawks have also long been interested in Canadian center Tynan Lawrence, and his lack of production since a midseason move to Boston University should be taken with a grain of salt considering BU’s bizarre team-wide struggles.
Coach Jeff Blashill has talked to Dach about moving his feet more and achieving more consistency with things other than physicality.
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The United States defeated Canada 2-1 in the gold medal final at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday to earn the nation’s third men’s title at the Games and its first since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980.
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The Hawks need to open roster spots for prospects graduating into the NHL, which is why they likely will ship out a few pending free agents before the deadline March 6.
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