Kody McDonald wanted to score a few more goals and get his name on the scoresheet more often than he did last season for the Prince George Cougars.
He knows NHL teams who rely on the draft to restock the talent pool pay close attention to the guys who light it up every night.
McDonald used to be that kind of player while he was growing up in Alberta. In 2013-14, the season after he was picked by the Cougars in the third round of the WHL draft, McDonald maintained a point-per-game pace with Lethbridge Hurricanes triple-A midget team, scoring once every other game.
But once he got to the WHL, he started learning the importance of playing defence. In 71 games last season with the Cougars he scored 15 times and picked up 29 points, respectable totals for a third-line centre, but it was his penalty killing that made him so valuable. Playing for the most penalized team in the WHL for two straight seasons, the opportunities for the converted right winger were endless, and McDonald thrived.
Assuming he hadn't just played a shift, he was the first forward Cougars coach Mark Holick looked to try to get his team out of a penalty-killing jam and McDonald's efforts in that department did not go unnoticed. He made it onto NHL Central Scouting's Futures List as a C-prospect last September and there's an outside chance McDonald could be taken in the late rounds of this weekend's draft.
"It's an exciting time, you know growing up you've been looking forward to these two days all your life and hopefully something good happens," said McDonald. "I'm just trying to stay positive, it's not the end-all and be-all. If nothing good does happen I just have to keep working. There's a lot of 18- and 19-year-olds that do get drafted and there's also camp invites."
McDonald was not among the 114 players invited to the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo in late-May. Cougars defenceman Josh Anderson was on that list and McDonald is reasonably sure his teammate will become the property of an NHL team this weekend.
"I feel like I would have done pretty well (in the physical tests at the combine), we had about a month-and-a-half to train after our early exit from the playoffs," said McDonald.
"It's also motivation seeing the other (Cougars) who got drafted, you just want to be like them and always push to be better. I learned a lot last season, I played in a lot of different situations and Mark taught me a lot. I thought it was a good season but it could have been better. I set my goals higher than what I got but the details of my game, the defensive awareness and winning faceoffs, I thought I did a good job of that, which kind of made up for (his lack of offence).
"There were tons of times we took so many penalties I wouldn't get a 5-on-5 shift until 30 minutes into the game. Its just tiring, it sucks killing penalties all the time. I imagine we'll be a lot more disciplined this year."
McDonald is training five days a week with Trevor Hardy, the Lethbridge Hurricanes strength and conditioning coach, and an assortment of pros who make their home in the southern Alberta city. McDonald's dad works at a Lethbridge rink and whenever the arena is open he gets to skate and work on hockey skills. He's added some muscle to his six-foot-one frame and now weighs 205 pounds and figures he'll be in top shape when the Cougars convene for training camp Aug. 29. It will be McDonald's first chance to work with newly-hired coaches, Richard Matvichuk and Steve O'Rourke, and he's hoping the team will continue to improve and avoid the tailspin the Cougars went into during the second half of last season.
"I think it's going to be a new atmosphere with a new coach and there will be a lot of things will be run differently, it's a good change for everybody," said McDonald. I don't know if the message wasn't kind of sticking anymore or it was just people unmotivated. It was just a lack of determination."
The draft starts today at 4 p.m. PT with the first round and will resume Saturday at 7 a.m. PT. McDonald will be going to the gym Saturday morning but be keeping close to his phone, just in case.
"It's been hard to sleep the past couple nights," he said. "I didn't really think about it much all year but the past couple days has been crazy."
