Penn State freshman Gavin McKenna is one of 27 players to get an A rating from NHL Central Scouting in the preliminary players to watch list for next year’s draft.

The list, released Monday, gives an A rating to players considered first-round candidates.

McKenna, who moved to the NCAA from the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers this season after a rule change by the U.S. college sports governing body, has one goal and five assists in six games for Penn State to start the season.

The Whitehorse native is playing against older competition than in the CHL, where he led the Tigers to the Memorial Cup final last season and was named the top player in the country.

Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino had McKenna ranked No. 1 in his October rankings for the draft.

All players in Cosentino’s top five also got A

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