Vancouver Canucks sign prospect Aidan McDonough

The Vancouver Canucks announced the signing of left-wing prospect Aidan McDonough on Monday morning.

McDonough has long said his intention was to sign with the Canucks, who drafted him in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

The Canucks have shown a great commitment to McDonough, and General Manager Patrik Allvin visited McDonough and his family back in January. The two sides were able to agree on a future plan and now we will see McDonough report to Vancouver over the coming days.

McDonough finishes his four-year NCAA career as a point-per-game player, totalling 124 points over 124 games. McDonough was known as one of the best pure shooters in the NCAA for the past few seasons and it shows with his 66 goals over 124 games.

You may see some resemblances to former Northeastern star Adam Gaudette in McDonough’s game. Both were lethal power play scorers in the NCAA and have exuberant celebrations on their big goals for the Huskies.

McDonough comes in as a pure winger, who will not see time at centre. He stands at 6’2″ and will turn 24 in November.

The Canucks announced a media availability for McDonough through zoom at 2:00 pm Pacific time.

Our expectation for McDonough this season is that he comes in and receives a bit of time in the middle-six, potentially alongside J.T. Miller or Elias Pettersson at times. McDonough should be able to immediately do some damage on the power play. We believe he will get some time on the second power play unit, likely on the right half-wall.

McDonough has worked on his skating over the years and will have to learn about the pace in the NHL quickly. The hope is that his game can translate well to the NHL due to his size, skill and ability to play up to the level of his linemates.

We will have more from McDonough after his Zoom call with the media.