SAINT PAUL, MN — If you had questions about whether Gavin McKenna should be the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NHL draft, they didn’t necessarily get answered here in Minnesota.
The 18-year-old winger, who had four points in Canada’s 6-3 win against Finland at the World Junior Championship on Monday, saved his best performance for last. Unfortunately, it was in the bronze — not gold — medal game.
“We wanted the hardware to go home with,” said Gavin McKenna, a bronze medal hanging around neck. “I thought it was a pretty solid tournament. I’m not focused on the individual stuff in a tournament like this. Without us winning, it honestly doesn’t feel like a good tournament.”
Good, but not great.
With 14 points in seven games, McKenna tied for second among Canadians with 10 assists and 14 points in seven games. In the process, he showcased why he is considered one of the premier playmakers available in this year’s draft. And yet, like the rest of the Canadian team, McKenna often left scouts and fans wanting more.
“I would call it mixed,” TSN’s director of scouting Craig Button said of McKenna’s tournament. “He’s had these peaks and valleys. The play he makes on the goal is a word-class play. But then you watch the game yesterday, he’s on the wrong side of the puck. He looked frustrated. His skills are obvious. But there’s no Connor McDavid out there. There’s no Sidney Crosby, Connor Bedard.”
McKenna might not be the next McDavid, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t possess a special skill-set or that he won’t go No. 1 overall. Few prospects can find the open man like McKenna can. Not many possess his playmaking ability.
In an under-20 tournament where the majority of players are 19 years old, it was easy to forget that McKenna was a year or two years younger than most of the competition. Not that he was sheltered. Or shrunk under the spotlight of expectations.
McKenna was leaned on heavily, while playing on the top line with Michael Hage, who finished with a team-leading 15 points.
“He’s a mature kid,” said coach Dale Hunter. “He came out here with all this pressure and he performed.”
In a semifinal loss to Czechia on Sunday, some fans blamed McKenna for letting his emotions get the best of him, when he took a cross-checking penalty late in the third period and then got ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct. A day later, McKenna quickly turned the page and kickstarted Canada’s offense with assists on two of the first three goals in the first period.
“He did an amazing job,” said Canada captain Porter Martone. “He was unbelievable for us and I expect amazing things in the coming years.”
If there was a knock against McKenna at the tournament — and during his season with Penn State University — it was that going to the NCAA had exposed some areas of his physical game that led some scouts to drop the 6-foot and 183-pound forward in their rankings.
The Hockey News’ draft expert Tony Ferrari, who has McKenna ranked third overall, said ‘There may not be a more talented offensive player in the draft than Gavin McKenna,’ but that ‘His lack of 5-on-5 production has also been a bit of a red flag.’
McKenna heard those criticisms. And while he didn’t silence all of his critics, he did take a big step forward to becoming a player who could work his way back to being the No. 1 overall pick.
“Honestly, I found my compete level in this tournament,” said McKenna. “I think people have talked about my compete level and such, and I thought here I started to compete. I want to bring that back to Penn State.
‘The goal now is to win a national championship.’
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