Flyers defensive prospect Hunter McDonald to turn pro with Phantoms

Hunter McDonald’s path to the NHL has begun.

The defenseman, who just wrapped up his sophomore season at Northeastern University, has signed a professional tryout with Lehigh Valley.

As Flyers president Keith Jones told The Inquirer in November, “[He’s] another guy that we think is a bright part of our future.”

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Selected in the sixth round of the 2022 NHL draft after twice being passed over, McDonald, 21, has developed into an elite shutdown defenseman during his two seasons of college hockey.

“He’s a little bit of a throwback, you know,” Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe said in a phone interview. “He’s a big body, he’s long, he defends first. 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.”

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound blueliner collected six points (one goal, five assists) in 23 games this season. He also missed a good chunk of time with an undisclosed injury. McDonald notched a season-high six blocked shots twice, each time against Boston University.

As a freshman, his six blocked shots and empty-netter helped the Huskies upset BU in the semifinals of the Beanpot, and this year he had the secondary assist on the overtime winner in their 4-3 win against the Terriers in the title game.

“He’s a good puck mover. He got a good identity to his game,” Keefe said. “He knows what he’s good at. He stays within his game, but he’s a good puck mover. He shoots the puck well and keeps plays alive offensively because of his skating ability and making good reads.”

McDonald impressed the Flyers during development camp with his positioning and ability to kill plays despite being a late-round pick. As Flyers vice president and assistant general manager Brent Flahr relayed to The Inquirer recently, he tells the kids right away at camp that it doesn’t matter where they are drafted, what matters is what they do from here.

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Keefe thinks that the defenseman has the mentality and wherewithal to prove he’s a pro night in and night out. He also thinks that the Fairport, N.Y., native is not only a throwback as a defensive defenseman, but a throwback to old-school Flyers hockey.

“I think it’s a great fit for him in Philly because of that. I think he thrives on that, that’s his game,” Keefe said. “It’s not too often that you get a kid that comes into college and he’s playing 24 minutes a night as a freshman and he understands why he’s playing the 24 minutes a night. You get a lot of kids that will try to step out of what they are as a player and maybe try to do a little bit too much, and Hunter’s always stayed within himself.

“He knows his identity as a player and what makes him successful. And the things that he does really well don’t always show up in the headlines, but they show up within your team and your coaching staff and your teammates and he takes a lot of pride in that.”