Revised - Whitehorse’s Gavin McKenna, 14, has been chosen first overall in the Western Hockey League (WHL) Prospects Draft by the Medicine Hat Tigers.

He is the first Yukoner to be the top overall pick in the WHL draft.

McKenna is having a very good week. He’s coming off a gold medal win with Pro Hockey Toronto in Nashville at the World Select Invitational Hockey tournament, his second championship win at the event.

He also won a silver medal playing with Team B.C. at the prestigious Brick tournament in Edmonton in 2017, then brought home a gold at the 2018 Brick Nashville Music City Invitational tournament.

He played this past season with the RHA Kelowna U18 Prep program in the Canadian Sport School U18P league, leading the league in scoring.

The Star reached his proud papa, Willy McKenna, this morning.

“It’s quite surreal. We feel happy for him, for sure. It’s a big day for him and it’s nice to see him get some recognition and some accolades and some attention. So, yeah, it’s all good.”

McKenna said they were expecting Gavin to go first overall.

“We were in discussions with Medicine Hat for quite some time now. We were just down in Nashville, Tennessee for the National Selects Invitational, a big hockey tournament, and Willie Desjardins, who’s the GM and coach of the Tigers, came down there and talked to us a bunch and took us out for supper and it was then that we actually signed with the Tigers, so we knew probably a couple weeks in advance,” recalled McKenna.

The contract with the Tigers was signed last Saturday.

“It’s just a standard WHL contract. It’s the same across the board. It’s basically saying that ... the Medicine Hat Tigers have the rights to Gavin and with that being said, he can’t go play anywhere else when he turns 16,” explained McKenna.

Exceptional status for McKenna to play in the WHL is currently being worked on.

“We were a little bit late applying for exceptional status but they are doing their best to try to get him as many games next year as possible because regularly a player of his age can only play five games in the regular season and once their midget – or whatever league they’re playing in – once that’s done, then they can go and play as many games as they can with the WHL club,”explained McKenna.

“When March comes around, if the team is in the playoffs, then they can get more games.

“They definitely know that Gavin can play in the WHL next year. It’s just a matter of whether the league allows him to play more than what’s regularly allowed for his age group,” he added.

The birth year for this year’s WHL prospects draft was 2007. Any player who was 15 in 2022 was eligible for this draft. McKenna, of course, is an exception.

“Gavin’s unique in that he was born really late in the year, Dec. 20, so in actual fact, he’s a year younger than a lot of these kids that are in the same draft,” said the elder McKenna.

He explained what led to his talented son being taken first overall.

“When he was 12 years old, we had to send him out to Kelowna and play there ... this following year, we applied for him to get exemplary status, so he could play up in the U18 midget league as a second-year bantam. There’s only been about three players in the history of that league that have gotten that status.

“This year he had a really exceptional year as well as a U18 playing with people three to four years older than him. He ended up being the top scorer in the whole league.

“So that pretty much firmed it up for him in that he would be the first overall pick in the WHL draft. He’s always been good, but this year showed everybody that he is a really good player and deserves to be number one overall.”

McKenna tallied 65 points (23 goals and 42 assists) in 35 games with Kelowna U18 Prep.

McKenna explains what his son’s biggest strengths are.

“The biggest thing – Willie Desjardins did a bit of a speech at the draft this morning – is the way he thinks the game. He can process it a lot quicker than your regular player. He can see the ice really well.

“He has good vision ... he makes the players around him quite a bit better. He’s got really good hands. He’s got a good shot and he’s really quick with the puck.”

According to his dad, McKenna is more of a passer than a shooter – a real playmaker.

So how far can he take his career?

“It’s a long road,” said the elder McKenna.

“This is a good step ... we’ve been talking to Medicine Hat for quite some time and the biggest thing is he’s going to be somewhere for three or four years, which are big development years and to have him in a place where he’s comfortable, good people around him, to give him the best chance to move forward, but ultimately, he wants to go to the NHL and that’s his goal and he’s driven and hopefully he gets there.”

The Star reached Gavin McKenna Thursday afternoon.

“I haven’t really taken it all in yet. It’s been a busy day,” said the budding superstar.

The fact that he’s going to eventually be playing in the WHL hasn’t sunk in yet.

“It’s starting to but it’s just so surreal. It’s starting to sink in though.”

The 5’10”, 160 pound McKenna thinks certain special skills he has are what captured the Tigers’ attention.

“My playmaking and my skill set; my ability to see the ice and make plays at a fast speed, play at a high speed.”

McKenna thinks it’s pretty amazing to be the first Yukoner to go first overall in the WHL draft.

“It’s awesome. I hope it brings more attention to the game in Whitehorse, get more little kids playing ... it’s an honour coming from such a small town.”

As for being a role model like Dylan Cozens, the Buffalo Sabres pro, McKenna said “hopefully. I’m hoping for that cause I know that there’s a few kids in Whitehorse that obviously look up to Dylan and I’m hoping I can follow in his footsteps and have kids look up to me as well.”

So how far does he want to take his career?

“Playing in the NHL, obviously; make a living out of the NHL. Not just be like an average player. I wanna win stuff, win a Stanley Cup.”

McKenna added “I would just like to thank all my family members, all my teammates, all my coaches guiding me ... all my trainers as well.”

Not surprisingly, the first overall pick has plans to improve even more during the summer.

“Lots of training, workin’ on my shot, shooting pucks in my back yard, getting on the ice as much as I can.

“I have a few camps. I have a camp out in Detroit. I have one here in Kelowna. Just gonna try to get as much ice time as I can.”

McKenna is coming back to Whitehorse for a visit in June.