Hunter McDonald has made his presence felt with some booming hits. Next up, fighting lessons from Rick Tocchet.
McDonald was jumped twice in the past week after laying big hits on opponents. On Monday, he got a few tips on defending himself from Tocchet and defenseman Nick Seeler.
Although he has played in three games this season, Hunter McDonald has already answered the bell twice.
First, Buffalo Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, son of former Flyers defenseman Kjell Samuelsson, went after him on Oct. 21 for an open-ice hit against Ryan McLeod. Then on Saturday, A.J. Greer instigated a fight after a crunching McDonald hit on Sam Colangelo.
Samuelsson and Greer each got an instigator penalty, with the first helping to ice the game for the Flyers against Buffalo and the second giving them a five-on-three power play that yielded two goals against Anaheim.
The thing is, both of the 6-foot-4, 238-pound McDonald’s hits were clean.
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“He’s a big boy, so it’s nice to see him use his body, and he’s obviously a really physical D man and making some big clean hits, I would say. That’s the thing too; his hits are big, but they’re clean,” captain Sean Couturier said. “He’s done a great job of having an impact on the game.”
“I’m sure it plays a little bit of a mind game with the other team too,” he added, “and knowing that he’s on the ice, they’ve got to keep their head up.”
McDonald has 12 hits in three games, and is quietly building a reputation around the league as a heavy hitter. The only issue is, the young defenseman has been on the receiving end of a few heavy blows in both of his NHL fights as a result.
Enter Nick Seeler and Rick Tocchet.
Seeler may be one of the nicest guys in the Flyers’ locker room, but he’s been known to get angry and has shown he can more than hold his own when dropping the gloves. And Tocchet, the Flyers player-turned-coach, has a fight card on HockeyFights.com filled with bouts against tough customers like Brad May, Joey Kocur, and current Vegas Golden Knights president George McPhee.
Although the 24-year-old McDonald dropped the gloves a few times in the minors and held his own the past week, the two gave him some pointers after practice Monday.
“I’m not claiming to know everything, but I certainly think I could just show him a few things to protect himself and go from there,” Seeler said. “I thought he did a good job protecting himself, and he’s a big boy, so he’s going to throw some hits, and guys are going to maybe come after him. But he’s a really strong kid, long arms, so I think he did really well.”
And what advice did Tocchet, the Flyers’ record holder for penalty minutes (1,815), provide?
“Don’t be on your heels. You’re in that situation, kind of be aggressive, but at the same time get your grip, get safe, and then kind of then you can be aggressive from there,” McDonald said of Tocchet’s advice. “But you don’t need to put yourself in a bad spot and stuff, but be smart.
“He said you’re a big, strong guy, good reach. So just kind of trust your instincts.”
McDonald isn’t just a one-trick pony or human wrecking ball. Although he’s been on the ice for two goals against at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick, he leads the Flyers in Corsi for percentage (52.7%) and high-danger chances for percentage (80%). He also leads the team’s defensemen in expected goals for percentage (65.6%) and scoring chances for percentage (54.8%).
“If you look at his training camp till now, there’s a lot of growth in his game, and you can see it,” Tocchet said, noting he also has poise.
“[His] patience with the puck, and then obviously, he’s lining up some good [hits]. They’re clean hits too, and it makes the other team think, and they’ve taken penalties on him. We’ve capitalized on the situations with that. So good for him.”
A sixth-round pick in 2022, McDonald was called up to the Flyers in late January but did not play. He was recalled again late in the season and made his NHL debut in the Flyers’ regular-season finale on April 14.
With three games under his belt this season and McDonald making contributions across the ice — he has one career assist and said before playing Buffalo near his hometown of Fairport, N.Y., that he doesn’t want to be “a black hole” on offense — the young defenseman should get a long look with Rasmus Ristolainen out for approximately two weeks due to a reaggravation of his hand injury.
“It’s been good to get in a nice little rhythm,” McDonald said. “Fortunate that I’ve put a few good games together and hopefully can keep staying in the lineup and doing that rhythm. But whatever happens, I’m here to just try to get better every day and not take a day for granted. Man, it’s awesome up here, having fun with the guys, and it’s great when we win too.
“So I think the past week, we’ll just keep going forward. We’ve got some good teams coming up, and I think we’ll have some fun. But for me, personally, just taking it day by day, not taking a day for granted, having a good day at practice, stuff like that. Even talking to Seels and coach after, just learning anything … [and] make the most of this moment.”
