The 2020 NHL Entry Draft is less than two weeks away.
The Vancouver Canucks don’t have a pick until the third round. As they prepare for the draft, we’re evaluating the top 10 prospects in the system, today at No. 9 with Aidan McDonough.
The Canucks have hit home runs in the first round in recent years, but a top 10 list means checking out more than the players who must make it, as the best teams find players in the edges of the draft.
Is McDonough one of those guys? He’s still a few years away from making the leap to pro hockey, but he’s got some interesting wrinkles in his game already that could lead to success in the NHL.
NO. 9: AIDAN McDONOUGH
Age: 20
Height: 6-2 Weight: 201 pounds
Draft year: 2019, seventh round
Current team: Northeastern University (NCAA)
Outlook: Energy winger
McDonough is ready for his second campaign with the Northeastern University Huskies this coming season, whenever it starts. Originally from the swanky Boston suburb of Milton, he’s back on the central Boston campus already, taking classes online from his dorm room.
Public health authorities have authorized collegiate athletes to return to training in small groups, which means he’s on the ice four hours per week with about 11 other teammates and then allowed time in the weight room and to run as well.
It’s far from ideal for a player’s development, but that hasn’t fazed McDonough, who turns 21 this November.
“At first it definitely felt different, but now it’s getting a little bit back to normal,” he said this week.
His focus during the long off-season — once ice rinks reopened in Massachusetts, he skated three times per week — was all about adding strength and improving foot speed.
“Getting quicker off the blocks, getting stronger, comes hand in hand with getting in the weight room,” he said. “When you’re competing against older players, you realize quickly you need that. I’m working on holding my power as long as I can. And keeping possession below the dots, it all ties in to lower-body strength.”
He also quickly recognized the higher energy requirements that truly elite hockey demands. As the 2019-20 season progressed, the Huskies started dealing with injuries, which meant more ice time for McDonough.
“My conditioning definitely got better,” he said.
Elite Prospects’ J.D. Burke said the first thing scouts notice about McDonough is his shot .
“It’s already an NHL-level weapon. His wrist shot is so potent, more overpowering than it is deceptive, but effective all the same,” he said.
Northeastern coach Jim Madigan said McDonough’s size and his hands stand out, but there’s a lot more to the lanky Massachusetts born-and-raised forward.
“He became more well-rounded with his play away from the puck. He’s a smart player, a cerebral player,” he said of McDonough’s freshman season. “His play defensively, his battle, his positioning, all those improved.”
Burke said some of the data he’s seen backs up what the eyes see: McDonough is also an adept forechecker.
“He’s a really strong forechecker too, and some of the underlying data I’ve seen places him among the elite NCAA skaters in puck retrievals,” Burke said.
Madigan wants to see McDonough’s forechecking game grow even more.
“We’d like to get him to be that much more dominant,” he said of the winger’s efforts in the corners and behind the net. “He made some strides about being dominant on the puck.”
McDonough said he enjoys getting in down low.
“It’s something that I’ve always loved to do,” he said. “I like scoring but I also like being the guy who gets in on the pucks and makes the play.”
His success in that area will depend on how he improves his skating.
“It’s a long, long way from where it needs to be. He’s your typical heavy-booted player, dragging his feet along the ice and lacking the flexibility through his knees and ankles for full extension on crossovers for accelerations,” Burke said. “Players that skate like McDonough does now don’t usually carve out NHL careers.”
But if McDonough gets it right, he could be a useful third- or fourth-line winger, Burke said.
McDonough, who is studying business administration and prides himself on putting in the work in the classroom, said he admires the playing styles of Mikko Rantanen and Jamie Benn, big forwards who have a nose for the net and create scoring chances in tight spaces.
“A big, strong guy who gets to the net, has finesse and is good down low,” he said.
Madigan believes his young charge can become that kind of player.
“There’s high expectations for him. He places them on himself but we have them, too,” he said. “He should be a 20-goal scorer in our league.”
The Canucks kept in close contact with McDonough.
“I saw those guys and heard form them pretty frequently during the season,” he said. The team’s senior director of development, Ryan Johnson, visited often, and Johnson’s second-in-command, Chris Higgins, would send along video analysis every few games, with tips on how to improve his play.
“Hats off to the Canucks, they follow their prospects,” Madigan said. “They’ve been very good.”
McDonough’s pedigree is also notable, his coach said. Like current Canuck Adam Gaudette, McDonough played prep hockey at Thayer Academy under head coach Tony Amonte, the former NHLer known for a slick skating style and sweet scoring touch.
Both forwards then played for the Rapid City Roughriders of the USHL under head coach Mark Carlson, who long ago was one of Madigan’s assistants.
That Canucks-Northeastern-Cedar Rapids pathway also featured former amateur scouting director Judd Brackett, Madigan pointed out. Brackett’s first season of collegiate hockey saw him play five games in the Northeastern net, before transferring to Connecticut College.
“We see their scouts a lot. I was very close with Judd. We go back a long way,” he said.
2020 TOP 10 CANUCKS PROSPECTS
No. 10: Toni Utunen
No. 9: Aidan McDonough
No. 8: Tomorrow
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