Baby Penguins Hire MacDonald

I confess, I was quite pleased with myself.

Last week when it was all-but-announced that Grant Potulny would be appointed head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, I decided to get a jump on things by preparing an article about our new coach in waiting. A really nice piece, if I do say so myself.

Too bad it’ll never see the light of day.

Penguins POHO/GM Kyle Dubas announced today that 40-year-old RPI alum Kirk MacDonald has been hired as the Baby Pens’ new skipper. He replaces J.D. Forrest, who was fired on April 28.

Following a seven-year pro career split between the AHL and ECHL, the former Devils and Bruins farmhand stepped into coaching as an assistant with the Reading Royals of the ECHL. MacDonald assumed the head coaching duties in the summer of 2017 and guided the Royals to a 155-86-34 record over a four-season span.

For the past two seasons he coached Dubuque of the USHL. The Fighting Saints compiled a sterling 41-13-8 mark last season under his watch.

Aside from his record, which speaks for itself, I profess to know little about the Victoria, B.C. native’s coaching style. However, a commenter on another site claims MacDonald’s teams play “fast, physical, and together with very good defensive structure.”

Sounds almost too good to be true, especially the physical and defensive structure parts.

Given his background, MacDonald is obviously no stranger to working with and developing young players. A trait that’s a must as the Penguins begin an organizational transition to youth. In particular, he’ll be tasked with growing players such as recent first-round picks Brayden Yager and Owen Pickering, along with second-rounder Tristan Broz and trade deadline acquisitions Vasily Ponomarev and Ville Koivunen.

Call it a hunch. But If I squint my eyes real hard? I envision him as a replacement for Mike Sullivan down the road.

Back Burner, Part Two…

While this hardly qualifies as fresh news, erstwhile Blue Jackets sniper Patrik Laine is seeking a new start and a trade out of Columbus. The hulking 6’5” 215-pound right wing missed all but 18 games last season after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.

After bursting onto the NHL scene with 36- and-44-goal seasons for Winnipeg, Laine’s career has mostly tracked sideways. Traded from the Jets to the CBJ during the 2020-21 season for Pierre-Luc Dubois, Laine’s scored 64 goals in 174 regular-season games in our neighboring state. Still a 30-goal pace over a full 82-game season.

In case you were wondering, he’s scored as many as 20 power-play goals in a season (in ’17-18). The big guy can flat out rip the biscuit.

But…

…you wonder what type of baggage the 26-year-old might bring. Nor is he known for anything but finishing (translation: he’s a poor defensive player with notoriously poor 5v5 metrics). Too, there’s the not-so-small matter of his contract…$17.4 million spread over the next two seasons at an AAV of $8.7 million.

I can’t take credit for this next suggestion (read it in the comments section of another site). Might newly minted CBJ exec Don Waddell be so intent on granting Laine’s request that he’d accept…say…Ryan Graves and Reilly Smith in return?

The $$$ would just about work out.

Stay tuned.