UNH Freshman Will MacKinnon: A Strong, Physical Defenseman

Will MacKinnon
UNH Defenseman #5

"Will has great leadership attributes. He is a strong defenseman that can move the puck. He will bring character to our team on and off the ice." Mike Souza, UNH Head Coach

"He plays a mature, deliberate game..a strong, powerful skater..a heads up defender who can handle the puck under duress..smooth hands and offensive instincts." Neutral Zone

"Will’s done a great job, he’s a real hard working young man, a physical defenseman." Danton Cole, Former Head Coach, US National Team Development Program U17, Current Head Coach, Michigan State University

Will MacKinnon UNH Jersey #5 Defense, 5'11", 200 lbs. Shoots Left Hometown: Plymouth, Michigan DOB: 4-13-2000 Turned 18 in April Neutral Zone Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars Last Team: Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)                   ~ Alternate Captain; 1st & 2nd Defensive Pairing Commits to UNH: May, 2018 at Age 18 years, 1 month "Physical Defenseman Will MacKinnon Commits to UNH"

2017-18 Highlight Reel

Scouting Report

"He (MacKinnon) plays a mature, deliberate game and you can tell he’s taken full advantage of the program's (National Team Development Program U17) strength and conditioning as he won nearly every puck battle. His best attribute is his shot; he has great power and an instant release which makes him a scoring threat even from the blue line. He’s strong on his skates and on his stick and did a nice job keeping pucks in the offensive zone and seemed to have developed great sense for when to pinch and when to retreat.

He played a puck possession game here (USA Hockey Selects 17 Camp) and carried the puck up ice regularly to lead or compliment the rush and showed smooth hands and offensive instincts. What we really liked was that he played hard; he didn’t act like he was above everyone else because of his NTDP resume. He blocked shots on the penalty kill, he went into the corners and dug out pucks and battled all week long. While he’s a strong, powerful skater, he’ll need to get quicker and more agile in order to find top four minutes in the USHL." Neutral Zone

Junior Hockey Statistics

Player	Season	Team	League	GP	Goals	Asst	Pts	PIM
Will MacKinnon  (D)	2017-18	Des Moines Buccaneers	USHL	57	2	8	10	127
		Team USA U18	Hlinka Cup	4	0	0	0	4
	2016-17	USA NTDP U17	Overall	56	1	3	4	33
			USHL	34	1	0	1	12
			WHC-17	5	0	0	0	0
		USA NTDP U18	Overall	1	0	1	1	0
	2015-16	Honeybaked U16	HiPerfHL	23	1	6	7	30