The Chicago Blackhawks are unlikely to select Gavin McKenna in the 2026 NHL Draft.
One of the biggest non-Super Bowl sports stories of the week was the incident involving Penn State forward Gavin McKenna. A violent altercation left McKenna with felony and misdemeanor charges. Later, the felony charge was dropped, but he still has three charges against him for allegedly punching a 21-year-old man in the jaw.
McKenna, of course, has long been the projected number one overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. When he was with the Medicine Hat Tigers, the generational tag was placed on him, but folks have been more realistic about his development after seeing him play against older players in college.
McKenna was still likely going to go first before the incident, but it’s less certain now. There are also some other incredible players to consider, like Ivar Stenberg, Keaton Verhoeff, and Tynan Lawrence, amongst others.
Multiple sources have indicated that the Blackhawks were never keen on selecting McKenna regardless of where they landed in the lottery. That seems to be even more true now following these allegations.
Despite his game getting better at the college level as the year goes along, on top of a productive offensive output at the World Junior Championships, other players have made intriguing cases to go before him.
Scott Powers of The Athletic was the first to come out with the report that the Blackhawks are mostly out on McKenna, for sure now, if not before the incident.
Anything can happen between now and the draft, but McKenna has a lot of work ahead of him in order to improve his stock. Will it be enough to win over a team like the Blackhawks? Only time will tell.
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