Every so often comes a prospect so good that fanbases of teams near the bottom of the league actively root for them to tank for said player.
Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby in back-to-back years in 2004 and 2005, Connor McDavid in 2015, Connor Bedard in 2023, and we now head into the year of Gavin McKenna: 2026.
The projected first overall pick in the upcoming draft captured the attention of the hockey world at a young age and has teams dreaming at the possibility of landing such a talent in June.
You will be hard-pressed to find anyone moving their first-round pick this year, and McKenna is the reason why. His unique skill set has drawn comparisons to Patrick Kane and Nikita Kucherov, two of the most dynamic wingers of the last 20 years. Whoever winds up lucky enough to select McKenna will see the outlook of their franchise changed overnight.
The Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks are among those expected to be in the running; however, Greg Wyshynski of ESPN is predicting that a team from Pennsylvania will land the highly touted prospect. And that team is not the Pittsburgh Penguins, but rather the Philadelphia Flyers.
“When Canadian junior phenom Gavin McKenna took his talents to Penn State, it became the most overworked joke in hockey to say that he’d now be closer to the NHL team that’ll draft him next summer: the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have “miraculously” won the lottery before when they’re in their darkest hour and there’s a generational player available,” Wyshynski said.
“So, imagine, dear friends, the utter outrage and disbelief when that other NHL team in the Keystone State has the balls bounce their way next spring. Imagine seeing the best-laid plans for the Penguins’ rebuild set ablaze by their archrivals. Imagine having the Philadelphia Flyers restored to their proper place as one of the league’s greatest antagonists at the dawn of the Gavin McKenna era, as he joins a growing collection of talents like Matvei Michkov to make Philly a perennial contender, while the Penguins waddle aimlessly across the state,” Wyshynski added.
Bold predictions for the 2025-26 NHL season! Stanley Cup finalists, coaches getting fired, and what happens with Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby 🤔https://t.co/D41iQLG7pq
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) September 25, 2025
The 17-year-old is set to play college hockey for the Penn State Nittany Lions in 2025-26 after several years of torching the WHL as a Medicine Hat Tiger.
McKenna is franchise-altering
“Generational talent” is a term many love to use for the best of the best, and while it’s hard to say if that’s the case for a teenager, you can’t deny that Gavin McKenna will change everything for one franchise.
His production last season was ridiculous, racking up 129 points (41 goals, 88 assists) in just 56 games in the WHL, which included a historic 54-game point streak.
If McKenna does happen to land in Philadelphia, then the Flyers’ rebuild will have taken a massive step towards them returning to contention in the Eastern Conference.
The thought of Canadian Gavin McKenna and Russian Matvei Michkov in Philly has the feel of Canadian Sidney Crosby and Russian Evgeni Malkin taking over in Pittsburgh 20 years ago, and we know how well that turned out for the Penguins.
