Prospect wrap-up: ECHL #2

We’re back at it, looking at two more ECHL prospects. Today, it’s Keegan Kanzig and Mason McDonald under the spotlight.

Kanzig was born in 1995, and by the age of five, he was 5’6″ [citation needed]. His calling card has been being big and tough, and that’s what he’s provided wherever he’s been. In his career, he’s scored 114 points. For comparison, he racked up 115 PIMs in just over half of a season with the Hitmen in 2014-15. The Flames saw this, and spent a third round pick on him. Awesome.

Those are some low numbers!

Those are also some low numbers! Consistent, but low.

Kanzig is a defensive defenceman, so measuring his offensive production might be a moot point. But that’s an outdated model in today’s hockey world. If you can’t hit double digits, you’re probably not going that far.

He’s big and that’s mostly it. He’ll probably get his shot in Stockton next year, but who knows if that’s a certainty. He was sent back down to the Dub from Stockton last season, and he could barely find a place there this season. There’s a spot, and it’s his for the taking, but it’s also his for the losing. Four years after being drafted, that’s not great.

The Halifax product, also a big figure (6’4″), he has always been a figure of intrigue. He was putting up numbers in the QMJHL that made it hard to know if he was good or bad because the QMJHL has always been unfriendly to goaltenders, but being on one of the worst teams in that league certainly didn’t help. He had the attention of and the numbers with Team Canada, posting a nice .930 SV% in the U18 WJC along with the “best goaltender” distinction from that tournament. He was a player of interest, and it could just work out.

After being drafted in the second round of 2014, things kind of went south. He never really improved in the Q, and his performance in the 2016 WJC was spotty at best. The light flickered out quickly.

Yikes.

The ECHL is also a bit of a high scoring league, but his numbers were substantially worse compared to his peers. Of the 41 “qualified” (ECHL’s definition, not mine) goalies, McDonald ranks 31st in SV%. On his own team, he lost out to career ECHLers like J.P. Anderson and Ken Appleby. The team tried to give him the most net time, but he was just simply undeserving. He did have an undisclosed injury this year, but his play was consistently poor. Of those 29 appearances, he only finished with a SV% above .900% just 12 times.

There’s still time. McDonald’s contract just started this year, so the team has until 2019 to see if he improves. Who knows what the Flames’ goaltending situation is next year, but I think it’s reasonable that he is a serious competitor for the job in Stockton. Perhaps he pushes himself there, but the odds are against it.

Ryan Culkin/Brett Pollock, Mitchell Mattson, Adam Fox, Brandon Hickey, Riley Bruce/Nick Schneider, Tyler Parsons, Eetu Tuulola, Matt Phillips, Dillon Dube, Adam Ollas Mattsson, Linus Lindstrom, Pavel Karnaukhov/Rushan Rafikov, Tim Harrison