This NCAA Hockey Tournament Is Why Penn State Signed Gavin McKenna

ALBANY, New York | As the Penn State men’s hockey team neared the end of its one-hour practice window on Thursday, superstar forward Gavin McKenna was one of three players who remained on the ice and continued working.

“You got to kick him off [the ice],” Nittany Lions coach Guy Gadowsky said.

McKenna, the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, has played unconscious hockey since returning from World Juniors on Jan. 9, essentially willing his team to an NCAA Tournament berth.

The freshman has posted 33 points in 18 games (1.83 per game) and jolted himself into the Hobey Baker Award discussion after an underwhelming start to his season by his standards. McKenna is a two-time college hockey national rookie of the month and won the Big Ten scoring title (38 points).

Now, Penn State needs him most. The Nittany Lions are playing in their fifth NCAA Tournament, facing Minnesota-Duluth at 9 p.m. ET Friday in the Albany Regional. McKenna brings a nine-game points streak to regionals, as third-seeded Penn State seeks to reach the Frozen Four for the second consecutive season.

PICTURE THIS: Gavin McKenna For Hobey Baker! 😤#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/t5VWmHwTAh
— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) March 26, 2026

So why is McKenna the right player to lead Penn State to its first Division I national championship? Gadowsky addressed the question before regionals.

“Because of number one, his team-first attitude,” Gadowsky said. “You've seen him show up in the biggest moments extremely well. He's a guy that everybody wants to see him succeed, and he really wants to see the team succeed. …

"The other top reason is, because he's just an absolute fun, chill guy who just wants to spend as much time with the team on the ice as he can. And this is sort of what it's about. You lose and you go home. He is more motivated to hang with the guys and go play on the ice. That might be his biggest motivation.”

Gadowsky has really leaned into the team-first mentality agenda all season for McKenna. Penn State’s coach has raved about how McKenna, despite having every reason to be selfish, cares more about the success of his teammates. McKenna began proving that last year during his recruiting visit, Gadowsky said.

“I’m truly more impressed with the person than even just the miraculous things he does on the ice,” Gadowsky said. “He's extremely valued and comfortable with his values. He's very, very family-oriented. He's very community-oriented, not only his community here, but his community back home. … His moral compass is always pointing in one direction. It doesn't move.”

Decent resume 😤

📲 Text 26053 to 844-623-9688#McKennaForHobey pic.twitter.com/3MoutIzqWA
— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) March 25, 2026

The freshman has shown his team-first mentality best on the ice. McKenna stuck up twice this season for teammates who have taken questionable hits, receiving five-minute majors and game misconducts in both instances. Most notably, McKenna delivered a cross-check against Michigan State’s Cayden Lindstrom (his former Medicine Hat Tigers teammate) after Lindstrom decked forward Aiden Fink on Jan. 30.

“Here's a guy that got kicked out of two games now for protecting teammates,’” Gadowsky said. “... He doesn't think about himself first. He thinks about the team first. And again, I'm just so incredibly impressed of how he handles himself. And to think that he's only 18 is just really mind-boggling.”

Gadowsky said that McKenna has made the Penn State hockey program better by “leaps and bounds,” and that many people in the program have learned so much from this experience with him. Gadowsky added that it has been a “blessing” to work with McKenna, because he is “so fun and positive to be around.”

However, it hasn’t been easy. McKenna faced an adjustment period to college hockey during which he was not at his best. Despite contributing elsewhere, McKenna scored just one goal in his first six games and needed to lean more on the people around him.

McKenna said Thursday in Albany that one of the biggest adjustments from the CHL to the NCAA thus far has been his “compete levels.” “College is a fast game,” he said. “I need to make sure I’m competing every shift.”

Which makes sense. McKenna said it is “something I’ve developed over the year,” and his 1.13 points per game mark in the first half of the season proves it. While it is a good statistic, he was not playing to his standards. But now he is, and he is prepared to lead Penn State into the NCAA Tournament.

“He has all the skill in the world,” Penn State’s Reese Laubach said. “He's a world-class player, but I think we have a ton of skill around him too. We have a great team, a deep team, a bunch of guys who love to compete. So, yeah, he's the offensive spearhead, I guess you could say, but I think we got a group around him — we can all kind of rally together and play as one complete team.”

Penn State Nittany Lions forward Gavin McKenna (72) before the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Beaver Stadium. | James Lang-Imagn Images

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