The NCAA’s Gavin McKenna era has arrived

Gavin McKenna begins his career with Penn State in the NCAA this weekend, and there’s plenty of hype surrounding the projected 2026 first-overall pick and how he will perform in college.

But just how good will he be? Steven Ellis joined Daily Faceoff Live to talk about what to expect from McKenna this season on the Next Wave.

Tyler Yaremchuk: He’s set to make his NCAA debut tomorrow for Penn State, taking on ASU this weekend in a back-to-back set.

What’s Gavin McKenna going to do at the NCAA level? He was already too good for the CHL, the WHL. Is he going to be stepping into the NCAA and already too good for that level too?

Steven Ellis: It’s definitely an interesting question because, yeah, he dominated the WHL, but it is tough for a 17-year-old turning 18 to go and put up a lot of points in the NCAA. But he’s going to be playing with someone like Aiden Fink, who was one of the most productive players in college the last couple of seasons. That’s a really good player to lean on.

You look at Penn State. I don’t think they’re going to be a national champion this year because they are a very young team. A lot of the guys they’re relying on are, in this case, 17, 18 or 19. When you look at the top teams, they’re typically the 19, 20, 21 year olds.

But he’s going to play pretty much every situation for them. He’s so skilled. He’s got a great scoring touch. But he also just has all these pro-level attributes right into his game. His work ethic, the way he battles, the way he thinks the game. There’s so many high-end elements to his game.

You look at the most recent freshman seasons out of college stars, and you look at what Celebrini was able to do a couple of years ago. I think we’re looking at McKenna, 60-70 points this year should be what he’s able to do, and I do think he will be in the Hobey Baker conversation. I can’t wait to watch him play on Friday.

You can watch the full episode here…