NHL Draft War Room: Mason McDonald

by

by Eldon MacDonald (edited by @ChrisRalphTHW)

Mason McDonald

THW’s NHL Draft War Room Rankings – Apr-14: #71

THW’s NHL Draft Rankings – The Next Ones Edition (aka Chris’s List): #103 (March 2014)

Mason McDonald Islanders
Mason McDonald has been playing extremely well for the Charlottetown Islanders since being traded from the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.(Charlottetown Islanders)
  • Hashtag: #MrMcCalm
  • Nickname: Made
  • Team: #1, Charlottetown, QMJHL
  • Position: Goal
  • Shoots: Right
  • Height: 6’4
  • Weight: 186 lb.
  • Born: Halifax, NS, 23-Apr-96
  • Twitter: @mmcdonald96

Stats

Other Rankings

  • 42 – NHL Combined – Final, Apr-14
  • HM – Bob MacKenzie, Jan-14 (HM = 51 to 60)
  • 52 – Craig Button, Mar-14
  • Goalie #2 – ISS – May-14

[Your quintessential draft resource:

2014 NHL Draft Guide: The Next Ones]

Worth Retweeting

https://twitter.com/mmcdonald96/statuses/449367200248639488

https://twitter.com/FraserTQN/statuses/460620151608463360

Profile

[The 2014 NHL Draft War Room: Prospect Profile Index

Contains All the Prospects Profiled in This Series]

Interviews

Quotable

  • Quote 1: MetroNews.ca – QMJHL Central Scouting Director, Pierre Leduc  on the 2012 QMJHL draft, “He’s the best goaltender in the draft. He’s an imposing physical presence in the net. He’s always square to the puck, he leaves little space to shoot at, he constantly challenges, he has very good technique, and he moves well.”
  • Quote 2: TheQNews.net – Bryan Willett – “Mason McDonald put on a dominant performance in net for Canada, stopping 38 shots as Canada claimed bronze with a 3-1 victory over Sweden at the 2014 IIHF World Under-18 Championship on Sunday.”
  • Quote 3:

  • Quote 4: Ross MacLean, ISS from CHL Top Prospects Game

  • Quote 5: ISS

From the War Room

Eldon MacDonald, THW:  A few words on Mason McDonald:

  • Mr. McCalm – My favourite part of Mason McDonald’s game is the zen-like calmness and confidence he exudes, a la Carey Price. He is that big man back there that has your back and allows the team to worry about the other parts of their game.
  • Size, skills and compete – In short, Mason has that big man size at 6’4 and the athleticism that NHL teams are demanding from their first string goaltenders and their prospects with a chance of becoming a first string goaltender. He also has that compete level that goaltenders who usually win the big games have.
  • Resume – Being named top goaltender in the world (for his age group) at the recent U18 WJC  Tournament in Finland looks more than good on Mason’s resume; it is that “killer” reference that everyone wants but few attain.
  • Improvements to make – In his interview with Anatoliy Metter from THW, Mason suggested that rebound control was the area he most needed to work on. While that may be true, Mason’s performance at the U18 WJC suggests that it is not a major weakness.
  • Draft placement – Goalies admittedly drive me crazy when it comes to rankings – it all depends on when a team wants to pay the price of a draft pick for a goalie. You can have a franchise goalie and he doesn’t get drafted until the second round. However, given the relative weakness in this year’s draft, there is likely to be one goalie selected in the first round, maybe two. Mason is one of the frontrunners for that coveted first goalie selection (whenever it is selected) along with Thatcher Demko and Alex Nedeljkovice – the winner to be decided June 27th or 28th in Philadelphia.

Video

  • Video 1: Sportsnet.ca– CHL Top Prospects Game Review
  • Video 2: John Moore:

  • Video 3: TSN.ca– Prospects review from Craig Button