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The Official 2026 Off-Season Thread: Revenge of the Nerds

axlsalinger said:
#1. Gavin McKenna

McKenna is a captivating and supremely gifted winger who had one of the most productive age-adjusted seasons in modern CHL history last season. The college game came with a learning curve for him at five-on-five, highlighting his lean build and some bad habits (notably, a need to be more physically engaged and show more effort off-puck/detail), but the dam eventually broke offensively, and he came on really strong in the second half with his natural playmaking ability. The talent and upside are undeniable, but he’s imperfect and can frustrate evaluators. I'm interested to see him with Canada at men's worlds still because of that as well.

McKenna is a flowing skater with corner speed more than straight line speed (he lacks explosiveness in straight bursts), great edges and an ability to make plays at whatever pace is required — with a preference for slowing things down, at times to a fault. He’s impressive at carrying and dodging sticks through neutral ice to create entries. He has a first touch like glue, where the puck just lands and sticks to his blade when he’s catching it, even when it’s coming in hot or into compromising positions. He’s an excellent puck transporter and get-out-of-jail-free card who can skate pucks out of the zone himself and relieve pressure (though I’d like to see him be lower for that more often instead of cheating up ice). McKenna is extremely shifty with the puck, blending shoulder fakes into his playmaking. He has impressive maneuverability and adjustability from his hips down. He plays pucks into space and leads guys at an advanced level. He shields pucks well from defenders’ sticks when he can play in open ice and they try to close on him. He’s constantly changing directions and keeping defenders off him. He pre-scans and sees and reads the game at an elite level. The elements of a brilliant perimeter playmaker are all there.

And though he’s a natural playmaker first, he also has scoring elements, has tons of pre-shot deception in his movements, and can attack the middle as a passer — though he can also stray to the perimeter against tougher competition. He began to shoot it and attack for himself with more authority in college in the second half, which a lot of people were waiting for after he was one of the WHL’s leaders in shots on goal from the time he entered the league. And while he’s going to have to fill out and get stronger and be more engaged in battles and in working harder on the backcheck and in races to pucks in the D-zone, he does have a good stick defensively when he uses it (again, the problem is that he too often doesn’t pick up assignments and can puck watch/drive-by instead of stopping on pucks).

Of note, his listed height has also been moved from 6-feet to 5-foot-11 by NHL Central Scouting. Still, despite some of the flaws in his game, McKenna projects as a first-line star winger and dynamic power play tactician. Improvement in his five-on-five play and the consistency of his competitiveness will determine his ultimate impact beyond the counting stats he should rack up.
Click to expand...
I did notice most of his highlights were on the pp. PP merchantish perhaps. Uh oh!
 
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