Gavin McKenna has all the hype in the world surrounding him as the college hockey season starts. The Penn State University forward and projected #1 overall pick in the 2026 Draft  is the talk of the college hockey world after his two giant seasons in the WHL putting up 79 goals and 244 points in 133 games. 

Today, it was announced that Fanatics and Topps had signed McKenna to a trading card and autograph contract. Topps and their Bowman U set will be at the forefront for McKenna swag, with cards featuring McKenna throughout his year and marking any milestones along the way. Some cards will also include game-worn relics and have his autograph on it. 

After looking at the email from the PR company who, I assumed, helped broker the deal– I decided to ask some follow-up questions; mainly how long this contract is for. That would be important should McKenna be a one-and-done player at Penn State and move to the NHL– who has Upper Deck as their exclusive card maker. The Young Guns rookie cards in the Upper Deck flagship collection is a big hunt for collectors. Not only that, but Upper Deck has other brands that deal with relic cards and autograph cards in their higher end sets. 

If the Fanatics contract is a long-term, that throws some questions about McKenna’s inclusion into the Upper Deck sets and what can and can’t be used from him once he reaches that point. 

The PR group did not have an immediate answer for that question. 

Nor did the group have an immediate answer to when the roll-out dates for any of McKenna’s cards would happen, what role Topps Now could play into this contract, and if this would be a jumping off point for other college players of notable stature. 

Therefore, we’re in a holding pattern to see what will come out, when it will come out, and how much the market will crave it. Also, we’ll have to wait with bated breath about what it could mean in his jump to the NHL and their deal with Upper Deck and how that would play out, as it would have a big implication on the hobby side of things. Hell, we could maybe even see if the NHL will do what the NFL and MLB have done and jump to Fanatics for their trading cards, leaving Upper Deck like the other leagues left Panini and Upper Deck for the Topps brand exclusively (not without legal things happening in Panini’s case). Honestly, I’m shocked it hasn’t happened yet considering Fanatics does the jerseys and online marketplace for the league. 

In any case, it’s an exciting time for McKenna to have himself another solid deal before he starts his college career and it’s an interesting one for collectors to see what the market value will be and how it’ll fluctuate over time. Not to mention the future of where this goes for the hockey hobby.