Ethan MacKenzie was at home in Peachland, B.C. watching the NHL draft on Saturday when his phone started buzzing. <\/p>\n
\u201cI decided to stay home and be around the people that helped me get to the places where I got to this year,\u201d the 19-year-old Edmonton Oil Kings defenceman said. \u201cI had family, my grandpa, grandma, uncle, aunts, like everyone over. I had a bunch of my close family and friends and I was just sitting in the living room and ended up getting texts from some people that are at the draft that said, \u2018Congrats,\u2019 and my name wasn\u2019t up on the screen yet, so I didn\u2019t even know. I was like, all right, well, who\u2019s next?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Toronto Maple Leafs were on the clock in the third round. <\/p>\n
\u201cI saw Toronto at 69 and I was like, well, I guess I\u2019m going to Toronto,\u201d MacKenzie told TSN with a big smile. \u201cI was pretty, pretty honoured and it was so special.\u201d<\/p>\n
After being passed over in the previous two NHL drafts, MacKenzie finally heard his name called.<\/p>\n
\u201cA great story, and a good testament to the scouts to continue evaluating players,\u201d said Leafs assistant general manager (player evaluation) Judd Brackett. \u201cIt is not just in their first year. Ethan obviously had a great year with [making] the World Junior team. He is a player we had some familiarity with. We had him at our rookie camp last year. There is a personal connection there, too. But he earned it. He had some injury history in his WHL years. He has continued to grow and expand his game.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacKenzie produced 22 goals and 58 points in 59 games in the Western Hockey League last season and earned a spot on Canada\u2019s World Junior team. The 6-foot-1, 188-pound left-shot never lost hope that his draft moment would come. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy first year through the draft, I knew it wasn\u2019t going to happen because I had an injury that lasted the whole year,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t really get to play hockey. And then last year I thought I had a pretty good chance and after I went through that draft, I kind of told myself and my coach, family members, I\u2019m going to prove it wrong to everyone else and that it\u2019s a mistake they didn\u2019t pick me. I just wanted to have another strong year and show I\u2019m good enough and I want to be playing in the NHL someday. I wanted to show that all the teams made a mistake by not picking me. All throughout the year it was in my head that I wanted to get picked in this draft. I\u2019m just happy that it actually came true.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a conversation with TSN, MacKenzie reflected on his journey to this point, shared some insight on World Junior teammate and fellow Leafs draft pick Gavin McKenna and also explained why the University of North Dakota will be a perfect spot for him next season. The following is an edited transcript of the interview. <\/p>\n
TSN: What\u2019s it feel like to finally achieve this big milestone?<\/p>\n
MacKenzie: It\u2019s definitely a weight off my back and just a relief that it actually happened. I know there\u2019s a ton more work to come. My goal is not done with just getting drafted. I got a lot more work to do, but [it\u2019s significant] just being able to have that reassurance that whatever I was doing before worked out. So, I\u2019ll just continue to keep doing that and keep working. And that\u2019s kind of how I\u2019ve been the last couple of years. I just put my head down and worked and it\u2019s been working out. I\u2019m just trying my best to stay level-headed and keep continuing that way.<\/p>\n
TSN: What did you learn about yourself going through this process? <\/p>\n
MacKenzie: It\u2019s not easy. There\u2019s a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns. It\u2019s never really a straight and narrow path. Definitely you go through some dark times and you find some people in your corner and you need them around. I\u2019ve always been a hard worker and wanted to push myself, but there were times where I had to dig really deep and, yeah, just kept my head down and just kept going as far as I could because I know there\u2019s people, other guys that want it just as bad or even more. I needed to push myself to want it more than them and do everything I can to beat them out.<\/p>\n
TSN: How did you celebrate after getting drafted?<\/p>\n
MacKenzie: It was fun. Most of my family stuck around. We had some lawn games going and just hanging out in the front yard, kind of playing some music, having a good time and everyone stuck around to just enjoy the moment. <\/p>\n
TSN: What were your expectations going into Saturday about when you might be picked?<\/p>\n
MacKenzie: Honestly, I didn\u2019t really know. I\u2019d been told second to fourth round, kind of in that area, but I was just going with the flow and whenever it happened, it happened. I was just trying to enjoy the time with the family and the people that were over and close to me. <\/p>\n
TSN: Did you have any feeling it could be the Leafs?<\/p>\n
MacKenzie: Not really. I had good talks with them, but it wasn\u2019t anything over the top or talking consistently. It was the one at the combine and I had one previous call before then, so it wasn\u2019t like a lot of calls. But definitely when we did talk, we had good communication.<\/p>\n
TSN: What stands out about the Leafs? <\/p>\n
MacKenzie: An Original Six team. It started the whole NHL. I\u2019m so honoured and so happy to be a part of that and to be able to be in Canada still. To be able to wear a Maple Leaf on my chest, it\u2019s so special. <\/p>\n
TSN: What was the initial call with the Leafs like after getting picked?<\/p>\n
MacKenzie: It was about five minutes after I got picked, I got a call and I went outside. I talked to the GM [John Chayka]. He was saying they\u2019re happy to have me a part of the team. I don\u2019t know, I was just trying to take it all in. I was kind of still starstruck at the time. When I got the call, it definitely hit me that it actually happened and that\u2019s when it really sunk in that I got drafted by the Leafs. <\/p>\n
TSN: What type of player are the Leafs getting? <\/p>\n
MacKenzie: A two-way defenceman, who is hardworking and super competitive. I like getting feisty. I like getting gritty. I like the hard areas, making it tough for the other team and making it a pain for them, but also being able to help out offensively and generate in the rush and putting some points up too. <\/p>\n
TSN: Who\u2019s your NHL role model? <\/p>\n
MacKenzie: Lately it\u2019s been Bowen Byram. Watching him during the playoffs and everything, he was pretty awesome. I feel like we have a similar style. I also say Sean Durzi. I kind of play similar to those two. I watch a lot of their games and look up to them.<\/p>\n
TSN: Watching Byram in the playoffs, what impressed you? <\/p>\n
MacKenzie: Just his skating and how calm he is with the puck. He\u2019s just so good. With his stickhandling, he knows where it has to go. He knows where every guy\u2019s at and his breakouts, just how clean he is with his passes and everything.<\/p>\n
TSN: You played with first-overall pick Gavin McKenna at the World Juniors. What did you learn about him?<\/p>\n
MacKenzie: He\u2019s unreal. He\u2019s a special player. You know that you always have the high-end talent when you\u2019re going to one of those camps, but just the way he can excel and prove that he is the best even in that camp and with all those guys there, it was pretty cool to watch him. It\u2019s just so, so special his hands, his feet, his IQ and how he sees the ice is unreal. <\/p>\n
TSN: You got paired up at times at the World Juniors with Leafs 2024 first-round pick Ben Danford. What stood out?<\/p>\n
MacKenzie: Just his defensive game, how calm he is, how responsible he is defensively and how he was able to shut down key guys and big guys on other teams. It was pretty impressive and I learned a lot from how he defends and how hard he defends.<\/p>\n
TSN: In Edmonton, you played with Leafs prospect Miroslav Holinka. What was that like?<\/p>\n
MacKenzie: Oh, I loved it. Our first year, when he came, he barely could speak any English. It was a couple sentences at a time and you had to be pretty slow and methodical the way you talk to him. But over the past couple of years, we got super close and his English got a lot better and we just were able to joke around and just have a great time. I loved every second being with him, so I\u2019m super pumped to be able to play with him again.<\/p>\n
TSN: What did your phone look like after you got picked? <\/p>\n
MacKenzie: (Smile) I don\u2019t like sitting on my phone too much, so it wasn\u2019t too fun. I had about, I don\u2019t know, 100 texts and I don\u2019t even know how many adds and snaps and all the other social media things. But about a 100 texts from friends, family, past coaches, like everything. It was just blowing up. <\/p>\n
TSN: Any messages surprise you? <\/p>\n
MacKenzie: Ah, not really. A lot of them are just the same, like, \u2018Hey, congrats,\u2019 and that stuff. I had a couple of coaches from when I was five, six that reached out and it was pretty nice to hear from them. I haven\u2019t talked to them for a little while, so it was pretty, pretty awesome to hear from them.<\/p>\n
TSN: What are you focusing on this summer? <\/p>\n
MacKenzie: I\u2019m just going to Toronto\u2019s development camp [this week] and trying to put my best foot forward and then I head down to North Dakota four days after I get home. It\u2019s just a lot about getting bigger, getting stronger, being able to up my game to be able to play against guys who are older. I just want to keep continuing the way I kind of finished the year this year.<\/p>\n
TSN: Why is the University of North Dakota a good fit?<\/p>\n
MacKenzie: Just their history of how they\u2019ve made NHLers and everyone that they\u2019ve kind of helped develop and move to that next level. When I went there last summer, they told me the way they wanted to play and how they wanted to do it and it kind of fit my game style and how I like to play too. I just feel like it was the best fit for me. Their organization and how they run their facilities and all the new stuff they get each year, just how good the gym is, their shooting area, their rink, like everything they do is pretty much a pro team already. Going from Edmonton to North Dakota, it\u2019s pretty much pro to pro and I feel like that\u2019s the next best step for me to be able to further my career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ethan MacKenzie was at home in Peachland, B.C. watching the NHL draft on Saturday when his phone started…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[603,3203,48629,5,4],"class_list":["post-610412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-draft","tag-draft-pick","tag-ethan-mackenzie","tag-hockey","tag-nhl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116834905864540975","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}