‘I hope I left my legacy there’: Gavin McKenna among the top prospects who spoke at NHL scouting combine

BUFFALO, N.Y. — After five days of interviews and meetings, the next crop of NHL stars are almost at the finish line of the NHL scouting combine’s gauntlet.

Although a few tests have been completed — hand grip strength, aerobic fitness VO2max to check cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and the Y-balance and new isokinetic squat strength to measure leg strength — the majority of the tests will take place Saturday on LECOM Harborcenter’s floor.

Before they finish pushing their fitness level to the limits, six of the draft’s top prospects chatted with the media.

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It’s been a long and winding road for Gavin McKenna, who is expected to hear his name first when the NHL draft commences on June 26.

The route to Toronto — the Maple Leafs have the No. 1 pick — started in Whitehorse, Yukon, which as of December 2025 had a population of 34,494, and took him through Medicine Hat, Alberta, a town twice the population, where he starred for the Tigers in the Western Hockey League.

And this past season, he was in State College, suiting up for Penn State and he helped put a young program on the college hockey map.

“I hope I left my legacy there,” he said at Friday’s news conference. “Penn State was a fun ride, and to get to experience some crazy things like the outdoor game and just college in general, it was a pretty fun ride.”

McKenna gave credit to Guy Gadowsky, the only head coach the program has had since it became a Division I program 14 years ago, calling him “one of those coaches that all the guys loved, and wanted to get it done for him.” The left winger had the second-most assists in men’s Division I hockey (36) and tied for the fourth-most points (51); Flyers forward Porter Martone finished with one point fewer but scored 10 more goals.

“It was a good season, I think,” McKenna said. “In college, the guys are bigger and stronger and faster and stuff, and the game in itself, I think, is just a little different than junior. It’s more straightforward hockey.

“So found out early on that things [weren’t] just going to happen easy, and I think once I got to World Juniors, I kind of got my confidence back and kind of figured out the game a little bit more, and started working harder off the ice and on the ice and getting in the dirty areas a little bit more, and I think that’s why I started producing more.”

At the 2026 World Juniors, McKenna finished second with 14 points in seven games for the silver-medal-winning Canada squad. He skated on that team with Martone and defenseman Keaton Verhoeff, who was sitting to his left on Friday.

» READ MORE: Porter Martone’s fast start with the Flyers was forged in Michigan State’s gym: ‘The best decision I ever made’

“Playing with Gavin’s pretty special. What he does with the puck, the way he kind of carries himself out there, it’s pretty incredible,” said Verhoeff, who grew up a goalie and joked that while he thinks he could block a McKenna shot. “You can sit there and watch him, [and] you kind of find yourself in awe. You kind of see yourself as a bit of a fan sometime, watching on the ice.”

Verhoeff is no slouch either. The 6-foot-4, 203-pound right-shot blueliner from Alberta is expected to be selected inside the top six picks. He scored 20 points in 36 games for the University of North Dakota.

There’s been a lot of discourse that Caleb Malhotra will be headed to the Vancouver Canucks, who have the third-overall pick. So, how did the meeting go? Malhotra, who recently turned 18, thought it went well — which is what he told his dad, Manny, who was hired as the Canucks’ new coach.

“It was kind of a weird phone call after, asking how the meeting went,” the younger Malhotra said with a laugh.

“He’s the reason I started playing hockey, just being around it all the time, learning from him, watching him,” Caleb added about his dad, who skated in 991 NHL games. “Kind of remember him playing and then when he was coaching, just learning so much from him, teaching me like small details that most guys don’t get to learn. It’s a massive privilege to get to learn from him.”

A teammate of the Flyers’ 2024 first-rounder, Jett Luchanko, with Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League, Malhotra is considered the best center in this year’s draft. So, while the Flyers need a top-end center — he had 84 points in 67 regular-season games and another 26 in 15 playoff games — he should not be around when they pick at No. 21.

“He’s a very unpredictable player — not to his teammates, but to the other team, I’d say for sure," said Chase Reid, who was on the podium next to Malhotra. “He does tremendous things with the puck, he’s got the goal-scoring mindset, he’s got the ability to make plays and set up his teammates and play in the defensive zone as well. So, overall, I think he’s very good player.”

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Reid is considered the best defenseman in the draft, and could go right after McKenna to the San Jose Sharks. He skated for the U.S. at World Juniors before missing a chunk of his OHL season with the Soo Greyhounds due to an upper-body injury suffered in the beginning of February — against Brantford.

The Michigan native still finished with 48 points in 45 regular-season games before adding another six points in 10 playoff games.

“I think my game’s extremely two-way, very reliable,” said Reid. “Offensively, I’m a playmaker, going to get my teammates open, give them very good looks, and also a guy that can finish. Kind of very versatile offensively and also defensively, checking top guys, being able to be physical at times and be smart with the puck other times.”

Reid is off to Michigan State next season, where Martone plied his trade, while Malhotra will join Flyers’ 2025 second-rounder Jack Murtagh at Boston University in September. Although word around Buffalo is that the Montreal Canadiens once again asked players what type of animal they would be on and off the ice, the pair also revealed that the team also tested their skills.

“Montreal made me throw a puck into a garbage can to test my confidence and see how far back I was willing to go to make the puck in the bucket, but I missed,” laughed Reid.

Added Malhotra: “I did the same with Montreal — miss, as well. I’ve heard of a couple [questions]. Forget who it was, but they were asking if you were on a desert island … [and] there’s no water for a day’s walk away, and you have someone beside you with a water bottle, would you kill them and take the water? I’ve heard about that one. I think that’s pretty crazy."

Alberts Šmits and Ivar Stenberg are two players expected to hear their names called early in the first round. And there is speculation that Stenberg, a dynamic but under-6-foot winger, could jump into one of the top two spots.

Could he even jump McKenna?

“Just super fun. Good team, good organization,” he said when asked about his knowledge of the Maple Leafs. “I know [Oliver] Ekman-Larsson pretty good so would be fun to play with him.”

The Leafs do have several Swedes, like Ekman-Larsson and William Nylander on the roster and Hall of Famer Mats Sundin in the front office.

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“I like playing with pressure, and I think I always play good in those pressure games,” he said when asked if he could handle what it means to play in Toronto. “Yeah, so I think that’s going to be good.”

Playing against men, some twice his age, the 18-year-old Swede just posted 33 points in 43 regular-season games for Frölunda HC in the Swedish Hockey League, Sweden’s top league. Max Westergärd, drafted by Philly in the fifth round of last year’s draft, played 18 games with the Gothenburg, Sweden-based team. And Stenberg was also teammates with Jack Berglund, who is expected to make a push for a spot on the Flyers’ opening-night roster, for Tre Kronor’s squad at World Championships and the gold-medal-winning Swedes at World Juniors.

At just 18, Šmits already has an impressive resume too — his includes Olympic rings. He played in four games for Latvia at the 2026 Winter Olympics, registering two points, after appearing in five games and posting five points for Latvia at World Juniors. The head coach is Artis Ābols, Flyers forward Rodrigo Ābols’ dad. Rodrigo also played at World Championships.

“I believe in myself. I believe once I’m going to become a complete hockey player, I’m going to be one of the best defensemen,” Šmits said when asked what makes him the best defenseman in the draft. “After the draft, I just got to work on my things, kind of have to work as hard as I can to become a complete hockey player soon.”