By The Canadian Press

Police officer says man needed jaw wired shut after being punched twice by McKenna

Feb 5, 2026 | 10:58 AM

STATE COLLEGE — A police affidavit about the arrest of top National Hockey League prospect Gavin McKenna says he was allegedly caught on video punching a man twice in the face, resulting in surgery for a fractured jaw that needed to be wired shut.

McKenna is facing charges of aggravated and simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct from the alleged confrontation on Jan. 31 in State College, Pa., where he is a member of the Pennsylvania State University men’s hockey team.

The 18-year-old from Whitehorse is widely considered a top-two prospect for the upcoming NHL entry draft this summer.

The police complaint filed on Wednesday says McKenna allegedly “engaged in a physical altercation by punching another male in the face twice, which caused serious bodily injury.”

An email response from Pennsylvania State University said the school is aware of the charges but declined further comment citing the “ongoing legal matter,” while the agency of Byron Ritchie, who has reportedly been acting as an adviser to McKenna’s family, did not respond to a request for comment.

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The complaint includes the affidavit sworn by a patrolling officer for the State College Police Department, who was first dispatched to the Mount Nittany Medical Centre to speak with a patient who had allegedly been assaulted in the downtown neighbourhood of the municipality where the university is located.

The patient, the affidavit says, had “fractures to both sides of his jaw” and a missing tooth.

“The patient was in substantial pain and could hardly speak,” the affidavit says. “The patient had two friends in the room with him who were both witnesses to the assault.”

It says the two friends identified McKenna as the person who allegedly punched the victim “following an exchange of words between them and the group of people that McKenna was with.”

“The friends recognized McKenna due to the fact he is on the Penn State men’s hockey team,” the affidavit says. “The friends could not remember exactly what McKenna was wearing at the time of the assault, but knew he had on a backwards hat.”

The witnesses told police that they suspected McKenna was coming from a local pub hosting a hockey event on the day of the alleged assault, after Penn State hosted Michigan State in an outdoor game at Beaver Stadium, a 5-4 overtime loss for the Nittany Lions.

The friends said that the alleged assault took place in front of a parking garage, and the officer was able to review video footage from street cameras that he says show McKenna “throwing two punches at the patient’s face, which caused him to stumble backwards.”

The officer says McKenna was wearing “a white backwards hat, puffer jacket, jeans and white sneakers,” and the same officer later located blood on the ground outside the garage.

The affidavit says the injured man underwent surgery on Monday, and his jaw will remain wired shut for about two weeks unless “further medical intervention is required.”

This is McKenna’s first season at Pennsylvania State after previously playing with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League.

In 24 games this year, he has 11 goals and 21 assists, along with 34 penalty minutes, and also recorded four goals and 10 assists in seven games played in this year’s IIHF World Junior U-20 tournament in Minnesota.

He is listed on the National Hockey League’s prospect ranking website as the top North American skater available in the upcoming entry draft, with Sweden’s Ivar Stenberg — widely discussed as this year’s top-two prospects — being listed as the top International skater.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2026.

The Canadian Press