Incoming North Dakota freshman Ethan MacKeznie was drafted this past summer by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and I had the chance to catch up with him at the end of the weekend, where he looked like a hidden gem for both the Leafs and North Dakota.
At the Toronto Maple Leafs development camp, I expected Gavin McKenna to be by far the best player at the final-day scrimmage, it was Ethan MacKenzie. He was confident in all three zones, controlling the play and limiting nearly every player who tried to enter his zone. He looked like a first-round pick, an impressive showing from a defenseman the Leafs selected in the third round this past June.
Drafted from the Edmonton Oil Kings, the twice-undrafted defenseman is set to join the University of North Dakota next season, joining a stacked blueline with some familiar faces.
MacKenzie was injured during his first draft year, leading to him being undrafted; a year later, he was looking to hear his name called, but it never happened.
“I thought I had a pretty decent year. When I kind of slipped through that, I kind of took it to heart and wanted to prove every team wrong, that it was a mistake not to take me.” MacKenzie on being undrafted the second time.
He knew he had to focus on getting better every day, and his main focus was his skating.
“I focus on skating a ton; every summer I go back, and I think the first three months it just pretty much all skating with a little bit of puck skills.”
All of that work started to pay off for him, as now his skating is one of his strengths, and he explained how this new asset to his game helps.
“That’s a big thing that’ll take me to the next level, is being able to escape all these guys and be able to out-maneuver them.”
That development helped him get recognized as one of the best junior players in Canada, as he was given the chance to join Canada at the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, but he had to make some tweaks to his game while playing for his country.
“Going to World Juniors changed my game a bit; I was really offensive in Edmonton, so I kind of changed to play more defensively and be able to lock down guys rather than put the puck in the back of the net.”
That mindset change gave him a whole new element to his game, allowing him to be effective in all three zones, with and without the puck. A tournament where he played with incoming North Dakota freshmen Keaton Verhoeff and Carson Carels.
One thing that newly appointed head coach Dane Jackson will be getting from MacKenzie is an attitude and a mentality that will allow him to stay hungry, no matter who he plays against, and no matter who’s watching.
“I wanted to come out and just play my game; I didn’t really want to worry about who’s watching or what would come from it; I just wanted to play my game and kind of show them what I already showed them all year.”
“I didn’t want to play scared or grip my stick too hard, so I just came out there and just had fun playing,” MacKenzie said after the scrimmage, where the entire Leafs development staff and front office had eyes glued to him.
Two years ago, MacKenzie wanted to prove the teams that passed on him had made a mistake. Now, at North Dakota, it’s another opportunity to show what he can do while the motivation remains, but the mindset seems different.
