In what has already been a significant departure from the previous management with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the hockey club recently signed two highly regarded college free agent prospects out of the NCAA. One highly regarded prospect is Jack Williams from Northeastern, whom we recently discussed. The other is big-bodied defenseman Caleb MacDonald, who is out of the University of North Dakota hockey program.
MacDonald is coming off his sophomore season with the well-regarded UND hockey program, where he put up a 3-7-10 line in 35 games, while also adding 42 penalty minutes, 68 blocked shots, 51 shots on goal (5% shooting percentage), and a +7 rating over all of his appearances. Over his entire college career up to this point, which included a prior stop at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Caleb has posted a 7-17-24 in 60 games played with 80 PIM and an overall +20 rating.
MacDonald spent his junior hockey years in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), far from his native Cambridge, Ontario (outside of Kitchener); playing for the Whitecourt Wolverines. He was a standout prospect in the Junior level, as he was named the league's most outstanding defenseman and a league all-star during the 2022-2023 season, where he posted 16-79-95 and 237 PIM in just 126 games played.
Caleb appears to have flown under the radar a bit as a collegiate free agent prospect in his 22nd-year-old season, and several media outlets reported him as a likely career AHLer with an extreme outside chance of making the NHL as a 7th Defenseman. One of the few places that ranked MacDonald as a "top undrafted NCAA free agent" was surprisingly in Frank Seravalli's column, Daily Faceoff.
These scouting reports about Caleb state that he is likely unready to be a pro hockey player as of yet. He is unlikely to contribute much offensively at the AHL level in the immediate term, but he does have some upside as a project defenseman.
He has size and decent intelligence, and he knows how to use his frame to add to his physicality and when to put his body in the way to block shots in front of his netminder. However, Seravalli noted that he is on the low end of his skill range regarding footwork and skating.
The development of his lower body movement will be key in his development, as we see whether or not he can add mobility to MacDonald's large frame that he will need to keep his skill strength at a high enough level, to where he might be able to see NHL action.
One thing I noticed about Caleb is that in the last three seasons, he has continued to elevate himself in the competition he has played against. Two years ago, he was in the Canadian Junior Hockey League as an overager, where he produced as a near point-per-game defenseman.
Last year, he elevated to D-III NCAA hockey, where he saw his point production drop off as a freshman, but he seemed to acclimate quickly and comfortably to the level and focused his game around his skillset. This past season, MacDonald elevated to D-I and still seemed comfortable against the NCAA's best as he continued to hone his role in North Dakota's system.
The next jump is a big one to the AHL, as he'll be going up against pro players and some of the best NHL-ready prospects in the world. It'll be fascinating to see if he can keep up his momentum and continue to thrive against ever more skilled competition as he has in years past.
If MacDonald can keep up his development and hone his game, he could be an exciting addition to an already highly regarded Jackets prospect pool almost immediately. While I don't think we'll be seeing him in the Union Blue as a regular any time soon, he is a name to keep an eye on in Cleveland, where I expect the "Black and Blue" hockey crowd in the Land will immediately take a liking to him as a fan favorite in the near future.