‘Serious bodily injury’: NHL prospect Gavin McKenna charged with felony assault

The projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL draft is facing felony assault charges after alleged altercation in Pennsylvania.

Canadian hockey prospect Gavin McKenna, a forward for Penn State University and the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, was charged in the U.S. after an alleged altercation last Saturday, police say.

According to a police affidavit, McKenna was allegedly caught on video punching a man in the face twice, resulting in a fractured jaw that needed to be surgically wired shut, The Canadian Press reported on Thursday.

The sworn statement, part of a larger police complaint filed on Wednesday, was given by a patrolling officer of the State College Police Department in Pennsylvania where McKenna attends university, according to The Canadian Press.

The 18-year-old from Whitehorse, Yukon, has been charged with felony aggravated assault, misdemeanour simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct. Police allege that the altercation “caused serious bodily injury” to the other man involved.

The officer who gave the affidavit was reportedly dispatched to the Mount Nittany Medical Centre to speak with a patient who had allegedly been assaulted near the Penn State campus on Jan. 31. According to the statement, the patient had fractures to both sides of his jaw and a missing tooth.

“The patient was in substantial pain and could hardly speak,” the statement said, according to The Canadian Press. “The patient had two friends in the room with him who were both witnesses to the assault.”

The witnesses reportedly told the officer they recognized McKenna as the perpetrator, given that he plays for the university’s men’s hockey team. They suspected he was coming from a hockey event at a local pub after Penn State had hosted Michigan State earlier in the day.

The victim’s friends told police the alleged assault took place near a parking garage, and the officer claims he reviewed video footage from street cameras that appeared to show McKenna “throwing two punches at the patient’s face, which caused him to stumble backwards.”

An initial incident report viewed by The Associated Press said the alleged altercation took place between McKenna and a 21-year-old man. McKenna was arraigned and released on US$20,000 unsecured bail, according to the news service.

The first outlet to report the incident was Onward State, an independent Penn State student news site.

If found guilty, McKenna could face up to 20 years in prison. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 11, the AP reported.

In a statement to CTVNews.ca, Penn State Athletics said: “We are aware that charges have been filed; however, as this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not have any further comment.”

CTVNews.ca also reached out to Pat Brisson, McKenna’s agent, but has not received a response.

McKenna is among the top-ranked prospects for the 2026 NHL Entry Draft and is widely expected to be taken with the first pick. He was part of both the 2025 and 2026 Canadian World Junior rosters, helping Canada earn bronze in 2026.

McKenna made headlines last summer when he announced he would leave the Canadian junior hockey development system in favour of the U.S.-based NCAA, which had lifted its ban on Canadian Hockey League (CHL) players.

The NCAA had previously banned CHL players — any athlete who played in the Western Hockey League (WHL), the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) or the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey Leagues (QMJHL) — as they were deemed to be professionals, due to weekly stipends of around $500 per month for living expenses.

That decision came soon after the NCAA approved rules that student athletes could be directly paid by their college or university, providing schools another incentive to recruit athletes. ESPN reported last July that Penn State would pay McKenna around US$700,000, which is slightly under the NHL’s minimum salary of $775,000.

McKenna is in his freshman season at Penn State after spending three seasons with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. In 24 games with the Big Ten school, McKenna has 11 goals and 21 assists for 32 points.

Before making the switch to the NCAA, McKenna was named both the WHL and CHL Player of the Year in 2024-25, finishing the 2024-25 season with 41 goals and 88 assists for 129 points.

He led the Tigers to a WHL Championship last spring, but they lost in the Memorial Cup final to the OHL’s London Knights.

With files from CTV News’ Lynn Chaya, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press