A felony aggravated assault charge against Penn State star Gavin McKenna, the consensus top prospect in the 2026 NHL Draft, was dropped on Friday (February 6), the Centre County District Attorney’s Office in Pennsylvania announced via ESPN.
McKenna, 18, of Canada, was previously charged on four counts by the State College Police Department for an alleged incident reported to have taken place last Saturday (January 31) after the Nittany Lions were defeated, 5-4, by Michigan State in an outdoor game at Beaver Stadium. The District Attorney’s Office said that while the first-degree aggravated assault charge — which carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison in adherence with Pennsylvania state law — was dropped, prosecution can move forward with a misdemeanor simple assault and other charges facing McKenna “as they relate to the serious injuries suffered by the victim,” with the hockey prospect set to appear at a preliminary hearing on Wednesday (February 11).
A police complaint alleged that a man was punched on the right side of his face twice by McKenna during an incident that stemmed from an exchange of words between two groups during “a hockey event” at Doggie’s Pub. The complaint stated that the man suffered fractures to both sides of his jaw requiring surgery and lost a tooth in the altercation, however, State College Police later confirmed that the man sustained two fractures to one side of his jaw and found no missing tooth.
The man was reported to be recovering from his surgical procedure, according to ESPN. A first-degree felony aggravated assault charge is defined as “attempts to cause serious bodily injury or causes injury with extreme indifference.” The District Attorney’s Office said that establishing probable cause for a felony charge of aggravated assault would entail that McKenna “acted with the intent to cause serious bodily injury or acted recklessly under circumstances showing an extreme indifference to the value of human life” and review of video footage from the scene led to authorities not believing the charge was supported by evidence.
McKenna opted to leave Canadian junior hockey to join Penn State’s program last year after the NCAA ruled that Canadian junior players were now eligible to play on Division I teams following a rule change in 2024. The prospect is the first Canadian junior player to make the jump to the NCAA and has a reported NIL valuation “in the ballpark” of $700,000, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ESPN at the time of his decision.
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