From sixth-round pick to the NHL? Danny Brière likes Hunter McDonald’s chances.

ALLENTOWN — Hunter McDonald has a busy summer planned.

Between lifting weights, attending development camp, and getting ready for his first NHL training camp in September, the Flyers prospect will be studying. McDonald, who turned pro after his sophomore year at Northeastern University, will be logging in for a course on innovation as he continues to work toward his business degree.

Finding out that McDonald, like Massimo Rizzo, is focused on completing his degree impressed Flyers general manager Danny Brière, who completed a two-year general management program at Penn’s Wharton School of Business in 2021. It’s just another way the blueliner has left a mark on Brière.

“When you draft a player in the sixth round, you don’t really expect them to become a top prospect. You hope they somehow make their way, find their way, and find a way to get to the NHL,” Brière told The Inquirer.

“It’s been a great surprise for us the way he’s improved and now he’s put himself in a great position to be a future NHL regular — that’s the way we see it. Obviously, he’s got some stuff to work on. But once he builds that strength, a 6-foot-4 defenseman that can play that rugged style and he’s not afraid, for us he’s a very exciting prospect.”

Coined a “throwback” to the Broad Street Bullies days by Jerry Keefe, his coach at Northeastern, McDonald signed for a professional tryout with Lehigh Valley in late March. After two assists and 10 penalty minutes in nine games, he was inked to a two-year, entry-level contract by the Flyers beginning in 2024-25.

He collected three assists and sported a plus-minus of plus-6 in 11 games for the Phantoms before notching a goal and 22 penalty minutes in six playoff games. Getting time at the pro level in advance of a full season has been “amazing” and beneficial for the player who was passed over twice in the draft before the Flyers nabbed him in 2022.

“It’s only going to get faster, it’s only going to get better. [I need to work on] just footwork, stuff like that, to be able to keep up with the game,” said McDonald who suffered an upper-body injury in his AHL debut that cost him one game. “I think I have a good hockey mindset, making simple plays — that’s what I need to do. I don’t need to be making crazy plays. Just simple, hard, and I’m going to be effective.”

» READ MORE: Prospect Massimo Rizzo aims to show he can make the jump from NCAA champion to the Flyers

Simple was how the recently turned 22-year-old played in college. He collected 20 points (two goals, 18 assists) and 88 penalty minutes in 58 career games for the Huskies. In 2022-23, he was named Hockey East’s “best defensive defenseman” and was on the conference’s all-freshman team. He played only 23 games this past season because of an undisclosed injury.

“He’s a big body, he’s long, he defends first,” Keefe said in March. “He’s a kid that’s going to eat a lot of pucks. He blocks a lot of shots. He’s got a very good stick defensively. He plays physical and he skates really well for a big kid. He’s got a good, quick twitch to him, so you combine that size and skating ability and the willingness to defend first and the willingness to be hard to play against. That’s why I think he’s going to be such a great pro.”

McDonald considers himself a defense-first guy who is hard to play against and hard in front of the net. (“No one’s going to get near our goalie,” he told The Inquirer with a smile.) And he looked good in the Phantoms’ second-round series of the Calder Cup playoffs against the Hershey Bears.

A steady blueliner, he didn’t give much time or space to opponents — and he showcased a love to block shots. He’s a guy coach John Tortorella will love. He’s like a Nick Seeler 2.0.

“There’s like a willingness to it,” McDonald said about the art of eating pucks. “You have to put yourself in a good position. You know that it may hurt sometimes, but it’s going to pay off. Yeah, it might not mean much in the moment, but it could be the difference.”

But while he knows he can clamp things down on the defensive end, the upstate New York native is cognizant that there’s work to do to become a 200-foot player. He knows he has to work on his offensive game.

“Getting pucks through, I think that’s important. Like, if you’re getting pucks through, you’re going to create offense for your team,” McDonald said. “I do pride myself on that defense, but you’ve got to be able to play all situations in the game.

“So defensive first, keep working on that, keep working on a good patient stick. That’s what I’ve noticed. And then, yeah, on the offensive side just keep playing a simple game. That’s when I’m going to do well, keeping it simple.”

Keeping things simple is a running theme for the hulking defenseman. He’ll get a chance to work on things at Flyers development camp in early July before possibly wearing the orange and black with his number and name on the back at rookie camp.

But while he’s looking forward to the chance to “wear it for legit,” he also knows that it’ll take some time and is happy for the here and now. Like Lynyrd Skynyrd said, “Take your time, don’t live too fast.”