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Kyle Dubas and the Penguins Must Do Whatever It Takes to Draft the Best Prospect Since Crosby and McDavid
Photo credit: Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers
The Penguin are winning when they shouldn't be, as they are pulling further away from winning the draft lottery and securing a chance to draft Gavin McKenna.
Gavin McKenna is not just taking over the WHL, he's rewriting the definition of what a generational talent is.
The 17-year-old sensation flat-out demonstrated his ability Saturday night, scoring three goals and picking up seven points as the Medicine Hat Tigers blasted the Red Deer Rebels 7-3.
That stretched his Canadian Hockey League record point streak to 38 games, and little argument exists regarding which stratosphere he resides in at the junior hockey level.
McKenna has already set records, breaking Connor Bedard and Logan Stankoven's 35-game point streak for the most in WHL history this millennium.
McKenna unbelievably surpassed Sidney Crosby's CHL point streak
More amazingly, he's now surpassed Sidney Crosby for the second-most points in a CHL streak in the 2000s. The only one left to catch? Alexander Radulov, who holds the 21st-century CHL record with a 50-game streak.
With a staggering 28 goals and 92 points during this run, McKenna has been virtually unstoppable. He's second in the WHL in scoring for the season with 37 goals and 121 points, four shy of Spokane's Andrew Cristall with two games left to play.
His seven-point outburst against Red Deer was a career-best, and he's already crossed the 200-point mark in just 118 WHL games, the third quickest in modern times.
McKenna's excellence does not reside within the WHL. Internationally, he attained a record-breaking 20 points at the 2024 IIHF Under-18 World Championship, returning home with gold for Canada.
He is the most gifted player wherever he happens to be on the ice. No debate, Gavin McKenna is the best prospect for the NHL following Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid, and already the near-easy consensus first-overall selection in the 2026 NHL Draft.
The Pittsburgh Penguins should not let opportunities like this go by, as they've got the chance to prime their next franchise leader. All they need to do is ensure that they find a way to be in line to draft him.
The Crosby and Evgeni Malkin days won't last indefinitely, and McKenna is the type of elite skill that can shape the future of Penguins hockey.
If they wish to compete for the next ten years, there isn't another choice, Kyle Dubas needs to go all-in for McKenna.
| POLL | ||
MARS 17 | 256 ANSWERS Kyle Dubas and the Penguins Must Do Whatever It Takes to Draft the Best Prospect Since Crosby and McDavid Do the Penguins need to lose games so that they could draft Gavin McKenna? | ||
| Yes | 118 | 46.1 % |
| No | 138 | 53.9 % |
| List of polls | ||