Connor Bedard's cousin also emerging as generational talent for upcoming draft
This year, Connor Bedard has broken into the NHL on just his age 18 season and has instantly become a superstar, and the lone bright spot on a depleted Blackhawks team. Now, another member of his family could be following in his footsteps just a few years later.
At age 16, Connor Bedard's cousin Gavin McKenna is showing the potential to be another generational talent of a player. Now in his first full year with the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers, McKenna is offensively demolishing the league with 21 goals and 44 points in 43 games - and he's been particularly hot lately.
This has led prominent prospect evaluator Byron Bader on Twitter to begin even comparing McKenna and Bedard, which is an incredible testament to McKenna's ability.
In his age 16 season, Bedard became the youngest player in WHL history to score more than 50 goals in just 62 games, and reached the even 100 point milestone. In his age 17 season, Bedard recorded an incredible 142 points in 57 games. McKenna's a bit off that mark, but he's clearly showing incredible promise and is already shooting up the draft class of 2026.
POLL |
Will Gavin McKenna be a top 3 pick in 2026? |
Yes | 203 | 46.2 % |
No | 122 | 27.8 % |
Way too early to say | 114 | 26 % |
List of polls |
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