Projected 2026 first-overall pick and Penn State University winger Gavin McKenna was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault on Saturday night per court documents obtained by The Athletic. McKenna reportedly got into an altercation with another individual during a private team event on Saturday night says Mike McMahon of College Hockey News. McMahon further reported that McKenna broke the other individual’s jaw with a punch in his newsletter. No information has been released on McKenna’s court arraignment – and no statement has been released by the school.
McKenna is a Nittany Lions star who currently leads the school’s men’s hockey team in scoring with 32 points in 24 games. He is in his freshman season, and on a record-setting NIL deal, after winning the WHL Championship with the Medicine Hat Tigers last season. McKenna scored 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games in his final WHL season. He became the third U18 player to scorer 120 points in the WHL since 2000, joining Connor Bedard (143 points, 2023) and Nic Petan (120 points, 2013). Those marks made McKenna the first blue-chip recruit to pursue the NCAA after the league began allowing CHL talent.
Now, it appears the remainder of McKenna’s draft season could be drawn into question. He dynamic winger is a star scorer when he’s on the ice, with flashy stickhandling and sharp vision. He has improved his ability to play a physical, 200-foot game as part of the Big Ten, though that growth could soon be overshadowed by pressing legal challenges. Pro Hockey Rumors will update this story with further information as it becomes available.
If the rumored reason for the charges ends up true, I’d think it likely gets pleaded down in court and doesn’t affect his draft position much, or his hockey career in general. Standing up for his Mom = okay by me.
“If true”, of course.
I did read based on the charges he faces if convicted of all couldspend 20 years in jail.
That’s not the way that works. He is not actually facing any jail time. Probably dismissed if stays out of trouble for one year.
Nobody gets 20 years for punching someone. Maybe murder
Let alone a 19 year old white kid who is famous.
He will settle
That will obviously never, ever happen. He won’t sniff jail time.
Was he drinking underage? Might be the only charge he gets let’s be honest.
His player comp went from Paul Kariya to Allen Iverson.
when you update this story with further information, maybe run a quick spell check too.
“Tank for McKenna” indeed.
Athletes at any prominent level are told “don’t take the bait” when it comes to public confrontation, no matter if you’re in the right or not. PSU will smooth this over, but it’s not worth tanking a future over some dumb windbag looking for trouble.
I can picture the exact type too. Drunk jock who thinks the hotshot athlete won’t risk escalating it, so he’ll look like a tough guy in front of his bros and impress some girls, instead gets his lunch fed to him. Now he’ll be drinking future lunches through a straw for weeks while his jaw’s wired shut. Whoops.
No reason to speculate without the facts.
He may have punched a creepy clown for all we know.
@Rollie: Yep. Hope it was worth the concussion, lost teeth, and smashed jaw for that fellow.
Kids make mistakes, Ask Chris Pronger. In this case, I don’t see a crime.
Guys willing to go to jail to avoid playing for the Canucks.
It doesn’t say it was another player. Private team event? That covers a lot of ground.
The team was in a private room and some kid called McKenna’s mom a whour. McKenna broke the kids jaw in retaliation.
Thought it might be a Frat party and he got pushed over doing a keg stand. Or that TV commercial where the guy says hold my bowl. When I was in College that meant something entirely different and was hardly ever heard unless the Cops came. Because if you let it go you never got it back.
Covers a lot of ice in this case >.>
So your saying the kid has a punch on him. In a sport that allows fighting sounds like stock value increased.
Kid can fight and score. I’ll take him!
The ‘defending his mother’s honor’ will make no difference in the eyes of the law. Will be up to the state prosecutors how this gets settled – jail time is extremely unlikely. Wish the young man well – an unfortunate error in judgement.