Gavin McKenna heard the boos from the moment he touched the puck in Arizona State’s rink. He heard the “overrated” chants too, and the 17-year-old answered with the kind of finish that has followed him since he arrived at Penn State: a game-winning one-timer from the right faceoff circle with less than two minutes remaining.
McKenna celebrated with a “forks down” gesture after the goal lifted Penn State to a 2-2 finish in a game that had already turned into a test of nerve for one of college hockey’s most talked-about newcomers. “They were giving it to me,” McKenna said. “Anytime I touched the puck I’d hear the boos and hear the ‘overrated’ chants.”
The game came in October, when Penn State traveled to Arizona State for McKenna’s first college hockey game. He was 17 then, a 6-foot, 170-pound freshman already carrying the weight of a commitment that had been viewed as one of the most significant in college hockey history in an NIL-driven landscape. Speculation about his deal spread widely, with a $700,000 figure repeatedly circulating as Penn State landed a player many had already placed in the same conversation as Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini.
Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said the moment reflected just how unusual McKenna’s arrival had been for the program. “When you get a player like that, it’s kind of like, ‘holy cow,’” Gadowsky said. “You don’t expect that to happen here -- and then it does.” Teammate Matt DiMarsico put it more plainly: “It’s not really in this program’s culture before to have those types of blue-chip prospects,” he said.
McKenna’s reaction to the noise was almost casual, even if the scrutiny around him was anything but. “I usually have a good chuckle,” he said. “Obviously sometimes it’s tough to deal with. But when I hear all that stuff, I get pretty motivated.” That pressure has followed him since before he skated for Penn State, where every shift has been measured against the expectations that come with being cast as a generational talent.
The friction around McKenna’s rise is part of what made this debut such a sharp snapshot of modern college hockey. Penn State’s chase for him brought unusual attention not only to the program but to the sport itself, with NIL speculation amplifying every move. He grew up in Whitehorse, Yukon, a remote city in the far northwest territory of Canada, and he described it as “pretty remote,” adding: “Long days of summer and long nights of winter. Pretty much just a hockey city, though. Everywhere you look, there’s an outdoor rink. I’m very grateful to grow up there.”
His mother, Krystal McKenna, said the spotlight has been as demanding as the hockey. “I can’t even put into words the amount of pressure that was on him this year,” she said. “Social media is such a double-edged sword.” That pressure is now part of the package, and McKenna’s first answer in college suggested he is willing to meet it head-on. The result was not just a goal, but a reminder that the most closely watched freshman in the country can still tilt a game when it matters most.