Will MacKinnon is one of two defenseman, the other being Colin Felix, who spent last season on the Reading Royals and signed an AHL contract with the Utica Comets this off-season. However, MacKinnon has a lot of familiar faces on the Thunder as he comes over from Reading, but the most familiar one is in Utica’s front office as his father, Dan MacKinnon, is the General Manager of the Utica Comets, “It’s a bit different; I try not to think about that too much, I just do my own thing and play my own game all the time, It is nice having a dad who works in the business, and he’s always got good advice for me, and I can always bounce ideas off of him, and he can help me out at times” said MacKinnon when asked about his dad. Like most kids, it was his dad who got him into hockey, “I got into it at a super young age; my dad has always worked in hockey, so he pulled me in, and I’ve played since I was three or four” said MacKinnon when asked about he got into the game.
The 23-year-old defenseman spent his collegiate career at the University of New Hampshire, where he spent four years and put up five goals and 19 assists for 24 points for 119 games as a Wildcat. Once he finished his collegiate career, MacKinnon would make the jump to the ECHL, where he would spend a little over a year with the Reading Royals, where he played in 88 games, putting up seven goals and 20 assists for 27 points before signing with the Comets this off-season. Coming to a new team means new teammates for most players, but not for MacKinnon, who not only is reunited with his defensive partner from last year but also reunites with Patrick Grasso and Filip Engaras, who also played at UNH, “It’s awesome to see those guys I played with at UNH, I had some great times there, and had a lot of fun in those four years, both Grass {Patrick Grasso} and Phil {Filip Engaras} were great teammates, and we’re good friends, and it’s nice seeing familiar faces on a new team.” MacKinnon made his name known in Adirondack on November 12th vs Trois-Rivieres, where he’d get his first point as a Thunder and get into a fight as he finished the night with nine penalty minutes. Head Coach Pete MacArthur touched on MacKinnon after the November 12th game,” He’s awesome, he’s intense, he decisive in all three zones, he protects his teammates, we’re very happy and fortunate to have him here.”
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