Penn State University left forward Gavin McKenna is No. 1 in NHL Central Scouting’s half-time rankings of players in North America ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft.
Central Scouting released its latest rankings of the best players and goaltenders ahead of the draft on Monday. The list of international players is topped by Frölunda’s Ivar Stenberg.
FULL RANKINGS: PLAYERS INTERNATIONAL | GOALKEEPERS INTERNATIONAL | PLAYERS NORTH AMERICA | GOALKEEPERS NORTH AMERICA
– Gavin McKenna is an elite talent with exceptionally good hockey sense, speed and maturity which allows him to dictate play and set the tone for games at whatever level he plays. He has a combination of skills that cannot be taught, which has been seen in recent seasons and which has placed him in a category of his own as the hottest talent ahead of the 2026 NHL draft, says Dan Marr, director of NHL Central Scouting.
– He was unanimously number one in the rankings halfway into the season and belongs to that special player category. The advance tip is not when he plays in the NHL but when he establishes himself in the NHL.
Other top-5 players are defenseman Keaton Verhoeff (University of North Dakota in the NCAA), defenseman Carson Carels (Prince George I Western Hockey League), defenseman Chase Reid (Sault Ste. Marie in the Ontario Hockey League) and center Caleb Malhotra (Brandford in the OHL).
– The rest of the first round contains a mix of talented players where the next eight to ten are considered to be top talents that will be difficult to move on to the second half, while the rest of the first round is considered to be replaceable, says Marr.
McKenna won bronze with Canada at the JVM and was named the team’s best player in two games. First after he scored a hat trick in the team’s 9-1 win against Denmark in the group stage and then after he had a goal and three assists in the 6-3 win against Finland in the bronze medal match.
