OverDrive - Peters on McKenna's monumental move to Penn State, the developmental landscape and the impact to the CHL

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

FloHockey Prospects Analyst and Host of Called Up The Hockey Prospects Podcast Chris Peters joined OverDrive to discuss Gavin McKenna's monumental commitment to Penn State, the effects to the NCAA and CHL, the value of McKenna's deal, the direction for players in the college hockey, the landscape in the CHL, Easton Cowan's skills and more.

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Where do you have Easton Cowan? How do you project him? You know, he's an interesting case because i think obviously is a first round draft that he's a guy that uh... there's massive expectations for him uh... and i would say that for for him it you know it in all honesty it's probably more of a middle six kind of long-term projection

guy i think that the skill level that he has is pretty solid but it's also, you know, it's not of that high end variety where you say this guy is definitely going to be a top six. What I love about Easton Cowan is the work ethic is off the charts. He's a guy that plays hard every single game. He's going to give you an honest effort the whole way through. And I do think that that is going to help him kind of as he pushes forward You know, could he potentially round out into a better, you know Top six guy like a second-line player with some energy. I do think that's possible

So he's a real interesting case I you know as a first-round guy you always want to hope that a guy's gonna be top six But you know, I think he's probably a a second line guy at the top of his projection Was interesting because there's a lot of leaf ends out there that think that he could be you know that the next big thing Right like he could be that nice 2.0 that prospect that you know there wasn't a lot of fanfare about him But he turned out to be a stud But there's a difference between the size of these two and and and we talked about Easton Cowan and you listened to Craig Brubay last year he

said puck protection was the biggest thing about him you know as someone who's watched him you know and you've watched a lot of players could maybe would it surprise you at all if the Leafs elect for his development to spend a little bit more time in the American League to start the year and kind of season them up before getting them to DNHL? Because that would surprise a lot of Leaf fans, I would think. But how would you react to that? Yeah, you know, I think when you look at the way that he played in the playoffs, you say, well, he's definitely a cut above the junior competition, right?

So you say that clearly there's got to be a step taken there. I think you give him every opportunity and camp to make the team. I think he's fully capable of making a push to do that. But I also think that the idea of a player going to the AHL, especially if they're at a younger age, and especially when you feel like you have kind of a steady pipeline in your program, I think that that's definitely helpful

in terms of where the Leafs are, what the Marlies have. You know, I think it's a good thing overall because there is kind of this hybrid step and you know, we'll talk about, you know, the big change in having the CHL guys and having that opportunity to potentially step into college and almost play like a hybrid between junior and professional. But I think that the AHL for players that are 19, 20 years old, that is kind of the same thing for them.

It's this hybrid opportunity. It's a step in the right direction. If that ends up being the case, I wouldn't view it as a failure. I just view it as another opportunity to get him to be the most ready he possibly can be. He's a really important prospect to the Leafs, no question about it.

And I think you should be encouraged by what we saw in the postseason. And you should expect a big summer for him. He'll have a shorter summer than most of his junior compatriots because of the Memorial Cup and everything else. But, you know, having a good summer coming in the camp ready, there's every reason to believe that he can make the team. I just don't, you know, with all the pressure that exists, it's not a failure if he doesn't. It's just that he's just not quite there yet. Look Chris, speaking of hockey development, a really big moment in the history of hockey development

happening shortly here where Gavin McKenna, the presumptive number one pick in next year's NHL draft is expected to announce he's gonna be heading to Penn State University for his draft year, leaving the Medicine Hat Tigers of the CHL. What does this moment mean to the traditional pipeline that we've come to understand in the hockey world? Well, yeah, it is a bit of a watershed moment.

It's obviously this has kind of been trending in this direction for the last little bit. It's only been a few months since the NCAA made the ruling that would allow CHL players to gain eligibility. They were expressly written into the rules as not being eligible to play college hockey, viewed more as professionals. But now in this modern era, they made this change and I think it's a good change for everybody. And hopefully, most importantly, it's a good change for the players.

But in terms of what Gavin McKenna himself, obviously the CHL player of the year had this tremendously productive season, had this remarkable 54, 55 game point streak that he was on throughout the season. And so when you see a player like him, you know, not every player, you know, even Easton Cowan, you think of the guys like

that, that, hey, there's still more that can be gained from playing in junior hockey. I think that we've seen Gavin McKenna kind of reach the peak of what he was going to be able to do. And so now he's taking on this new challenge with this opportunity to play college. And by going to Penn State specifically, he's going to a place where they actually have not had one NHL regular. They had Casey Bailey who played for the Leaf for about a minute and they've had a couple of guys that have had cups of coffee but they haven't had a regular.

They have Jackson Smith coming in this year and now Gavin McKenna. What it means is now you've got one of the most influential junior hockey players. All the young guys are watching what Gavin McKenna is going to do. And now they're seeing him take this, you know, pretty substantial step in not just going to college hockey, but go into a program that isn't necessarily one of the blue bloods. And yes, they have NIL money and they have other things and have a lot of advantages that some smaller schools don't. But it's an opportunity for him to really put his mark on a program and leave college hockey as one of the most important recruits we've ever seen. So I mean what we always do is we take what's happening and project it forward.

This deal is reported to be $700,000. I don't know where all that comes from or how they get there, but also when you add in the new quirk of the CBA where your rights don't expire with your team that drafts you until you're 22, which is two more years added. I mean, it almost creates an entirely new avenue for that, doesn't it? It really does. I mean, I think that, you know, this would be a unique circumstance. I think most hockey players are not going to be able to make, earn that kind of money

in NIL. We've heard of other six figure deals that have kind of been out there, but nothing really confirmed. This is the first time that we've heard of other six figure deals that have kind of been out there, but nothing really confirmed. This is the first time that we've heard this. It does sound like Penn State was able to offer substantially more than other schools were willing to or could part with. And so that's another thing.

I think it was important for Gavin McKenna in this process to get as much as he possibly could because he has the highest earning potential of any hockey player. And if he takes the highest amount that does open kind of the door for some of these other players to earn higher dollars. Now, for guys that are gonna go into the NHL

immediately out of college, it wouldn't necessarily make much sense for them to stick around. But for the guys that know that, hey, I'm probably gonna have to spend a couple of years in the AHL, well, you can actually potentially make more money in college than you could in the AHL because the ELC goes down to under $100,000. So we're talking about opportunities for players to extend their playing careers in college

if they feel like that's best for them. I think in most cases, we're still gonna see players making the decision to get some of the NHL as fast as they possibly can. This having that longer tail on signing rights is definitely beneficial to the players and to the teams, especially with contract limits being what they are, maybe you can kind of defer a kid for an extra year or maybe two. So there's a lot of, you know, benefits to that. But absolutely absolutely the NIL situation has changed the game and we're starting to learn more too about what teams opting into this house settlement

where there's actual revenue sharing happening with these schools. And some schools will give most of that money to their football and basketball programs, but in some cases, the hockey programs could benefit from that as well. Chris, speaking to people around this whole situation, I've heard the argument that from a player development

standpoint, yeah, the CHL is a proven road. There's no doubt about it. But you do play 70-plus games, plus playoffs. You're on the road a lot. From an athletic development perspective, I've heard people say, hey, you're better off to go to the US, play a 38, I think Penn State

played 38 games last year, you get more time in the weight room to build your body, build your speed, build your physique. Matthew Nyes is a good example, who came into Toronto after being at the University of Minnesota with a really good strength program and was a chiseled specimen who obviously could compete against men right out of the box.

I mean, have you heard much on that front just in terms of the pros and cons of these two systems that are now at war? It's really interesting because back when CHL players couldn't go to the NCAA, one of the recruiting negatives was viewed as the lack of games played. And that has shifted, I think, as more people have understood the value of the additional time away from playing games, where there is more practice time, where there is a more dedicated strength and conditioning program, where there is easier travel so that there's

less time spent on a bus and more time spent in the weight room or on the ice. And so there are benefits. But what I'll say is that the CHL is decades and decades of proven development as well. There is no one size fits all for all of these players. I think for a player in Gavin McKenna's case in particular, what are the things that he needs to do to be ready to play in the NHL day one? He's got to get stronger. That's probably the number one thing.

He's a bit of a slight build. He's got good enough size. He's incredibly quick, obviously very skilled, but you want to see him get stronger. You want to see him get a little more endurance, different things like that. That will help him. And I think that that's a reason to potentially take that route. The other thing that's important about college hockey is that the age gap between the players. He'll be a 17 going into 18 year old as he plays college hockey and some of the guys in college hockey are 22, 23, 24 years old. So they

are older, they're stronger and they're more experienced. So that's another thing. There's a lot of differences between the two, both have great benefits. I don't think that this is a replacement. It is just an alternative option and for players like Gavin McKenna, it certainly seems to make sense for them. Well, Gavin McKenna kind of opens the floodgates for a lot of guys to maybe make that crossover from the CHL to NCAA. Like if you're Dan McKenzie, the president of the Canadian Hockey League, I mean, how are you feeling about all of this and maybe, you know, like how can you limit that potential

exodus? Well, I think, you know, there's, I think there's a way where everybody can win. I think, you know, the CHL is probably going to have to get younger. They're going to have to institute, you know, probably more 16 year olds will get opportunities earlier than they would have. I do think that there is going to be this idea of competition and competition requires, you know, getting investing and doing more. I think we've seen a number of OHL teams, a number of, you know, WHL teams, QMJHL teams

that have invested in facilities, in weight training, in additional things like that. You're seeing the same thing in the USHL where there's money going into those programs to try to better compete. And so, you know, I think that that's part of it. Competition does breed improvement of all things and hopefully there's an opportunity there. I think, you know, as Dan McKenzie has approached us and I think that a lot of the commissioners in the CHL leagues, they have an understanding of this option that's available to players. They're not resistant to it because they know that there's still going to be a large number of players. But the other thing that there is a benefit to this, there will be more American players, there will be some more European

players that will choose the CHL that wouldn't have because it was not possible to go to college afterwards. So I do think you're gonna see that. And then you think about the guys like Adam Fantilly, Macklin Celebrini, Owen Power, who chose to go to the USHL, they now have this additional option available to them. So I think the CHL by because of this will get a bit younger, but it doesn't have to get worse. It might get a little less experienced.

You might have fewer 20 year olds playing, but have fewer-agers, but there is still going to be a very valid and good development path throughout junior hockey in North America because of the pool continues to deepen as hockey gets more widespread and we see more players interested in the North American development model. Chris, thanks very much. Really appreciate the conversation. Hey, my pleasure, guys. Thanks for having me. Chris Peters, prospect analyst for Flow Hockey and host of the Called Up podcast. Seasoned gamer or just video game curious? This Week in Gaming is the podcast for you. We break down the latest in the world of video games, from basics to beyond.

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