After leading Canada to the gold medal at the 2024 IIHF World Men’s Under-18 Championship with a record-setting performance that was punctuated by a hat trick in the final, the buzz is growing around this 16-year-old phenom from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.
With a December 2007 birthdate, McKenna is not draft eligible until 2026. But after a spectacular rookie season with the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL and his golden-sealing performance in Finland, there is no rail that will contain the runaway hype train that is coming.
Before this tournament, the most points a Canadian had ever scored at the Men’s World Under-18 Championship was 15 – achieved by Tyson Jost and last year by Macklin Celebrini, the top prospect for the 2024 NHL Draft. McKenna had 20. That is just two shy of the single-tournament record that was also set in 2024 by American James Hagens, who is a top prospect for next year’s draft.
McKenna had four points in the finale with three goals including the game-tying goal and empty-net icer, as Canada stunned the U.S. in a dramatic third-period comeback to win 6-4. Head coach Gardiner MacDougall exuberantly proclaimed he couldn’t put the 16-year-old on the ice enough in the third period.
3 Comments
THE CANADA SWITZERLAND GAME IS AT 6:30pm AND NOT 7:30!
McKenna is As Advertised!
Wow he IS good!