The Adirondack Thunder have officially announced that defenseman Will MacKinnon and forward Filip Engaras from the Utica Comets as the Comets season officially came to an end this past weekend. MacKinnon is a massive addition to the Adirondack’s lineup as MacKinnon and Colin Felix have been paired up together not only at the beginning of the year in Adirondack but have also been D partners up in Utica as well; the two of them were the best defensive pair in the ECHL last season and are the backbone of the Thunder lineup. The 24-year-old defenseman spent the 2023-24 season with both the Comets and Thunder as he played in 40 games with Utica, putting up three goals and three assists for six points in 40 games and in 29 games with the Thunder; he put up one goal and three assists. Head Coach Pete MacArthur has already mentioned that Felix and MacKinnon will be paired up together on Friday Night in Maine. There has been a lot of talk around the organization about how excited MacKinnon is to join the Thunder for their Kelly Cup Playoff run. Filip Engaras has spent the majority of his season with the Comets, playing in 53 games, putting up six goals and six assists for 12 points; he’s played in six games with Adirondack, putting up two goals and an assist for three points.
“Now with these new guys coming down we’re gonna have to change things again and another guy is gonna have to come out or probably two guys are gonna have to come out. It’s not a fun process for me to go through that, I don’t like taking guys out I want them to all to develop and all play, you made a mistake, let’s make it better, fortunatley for us it’s not how it works, we’ll get back to the drawing board and figure out who’s going to play together”
Head Coach Pete MacArthur when talking about the line combinations
Forwards Travis Broughman and Ryan Wheeler were both placed on reserve today to make room on the active roster for MacKinnon and Engaras and will likely be scratched on Friday Night in Game 3 vs Maine Mariners. This is not the first time this season that MacArthur has scratched Broughman, as he was scratched earlier in the season; in 66 games this year, the 6’2 forward has put up 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points. Ryan Wheeler, who started the year as a defenseman but was moved up to forward when the Thunder lost guys to call-ups and injuries, will stay a forward until the Thunder need another body on the back end, according to MacArthur. In 61 games this season with Adirondack, Wheeler has put up 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points.
