Flyers sign towering defensive prospect Hunter McDonald for 2024-25 season
McDonald, who checks in at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, has been playing with the Phantoms following a two-year collegiate career at Northeastern.
The Flyers just got a lot bigger on the blue line.
The team announced Monday it has signed defenseman Hunter McDonald to a two-year, entry-level contract beginning with the 2024-25 season. The 21-year-old McDonald, who checks in at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, has been playing in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on a professional tryout since his collegiate season ended. He has logged two assists and 10 penalty minutes in nine games since joining the Phantoms in March.
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A sixth-round pick of the Flyers in 2022, McDonald played the past two seasons at Northeastern. A no-nonsense, defensive defenseman, McDonald tallied 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 also earned a spot on the league’s all-freshman team. The big blueliner was limited to 23 games this past season with an undisclosed injury.
“He’s a little bit of a throwback, you know,” Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe told The Inquirer recently. “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.”
While McDonald doesn’t have the most prestigious pedigree, he is a player that the organization is extremely high on. When asked by The Inquirer earlier this year about under-the-radar prospects to watch, president Keith Jones namechecked McDonald, saying “[He’s] another guy that we think is a bright part of our future.” Assistant general manager Brent Flahr has also praised McDonald in the past. McDonald’s physicality, reach, and defensive work also stood out at Flyers development camp, where he was among the team’s most impressive defensemen.
The defenseman will compete for a roster spot with the Flyers in training camp but most likely will start the year in the AHL.