Connor McKee’s path to the NHL — much less to his debut with the Rangers on Saturday — was anything but straight.
He was the last remaining defenseman on the Green Bay Gamblers’ USHL roster for the 2015-16 season, appearing in just 29 games.
He went undrafted after three seasons at Minnesota State University. McKee, 27, has appeared in just 40 NHL games.
However, his latest cameo showed a glimpse of a skill set that could lead to more opportunities with the Blueshirts.
McKee’s shot that hit the post in the first period against the Senators was an early flash of his offensive instincts and helped him lead USHL defensemen in scoring.
He then crushed Tim Stutzle with a hit and won the fight against Brady Tkachuk.
All of that mixed together helped McKee become “the proverbial 200-foot defenseman,” former Minnesota State head coach and current Wisconsin coach Mike Hastings told the Post. Ta.
He doesn’t have to play the power play anymore. Hitting, fighting and physicality are added to NHL teams, according to his former coach, and McKee relies on his “natural crust” as a defenseman who “plays with an edge.” If he gets the puck at the blue line, Hastings added, it’s not a “dead end.”
It took McKee, who signed a two-way contract with AHL Hartford and scored eight points in 28 games, until the Rangers’ 49th game of the season to get his first chance.
He may not get the next defenseman, and that’s how being the No. 8 defenseman in the NHL works.
Opportunities arrive all at once. In some cases, they may not come at all. But as McKee has learned, if they are maximized, and everything falls into place, there is always the possibility of expanded roles.
“He had to play the role [as a last defenseman] At every stage of his development, that’s something that not every player goes through,” former Gamblers coach and current Toledo Walleye coach Pat Mikesh told the Post. “Conor went through all the growth and learned how to play in different roles, not just doing minimal shifts each season, but a year later being the team’s top minutes.
“So he had to fight for the ice, that’s probably the best way to put it, his entire career.”
McKee’s trajectory took him from being the last defenseman on the Gamblers’ depth chart (often a healthy scratch and not skating regular shifts) to scoring 47 points in 60 games the following season. It changed when I did. He added strength in the weight room, but going into the summer leading up to the 2016-17 season, Mikesh still didn’t know McKee could be the anchor on the blue line.
Maybe we’ll learn something after 29 games. Although not very much. However, when Minnesota State and assistant coach Todd Knott began attending training camp, Mikesh suggested keeping a close eye on McKee.
“If we get Conor, we’ve got a diamond in the rough,” Hastings recalled Knott saying. “I’m going to steal one here.”
That year, McKee led the USHL with 34 power-play points as the Gamblers’ man-advantage quarterback and became the type of defenseman Minnesota State relied on for three seasons.
He was able to break out the puck. He could defend. He has performed well, including scoring the tying goal in the final seconds of the 2018-19 Western Collegiate Hockey Association title game and taking an off-angle shot past the North Dakota State goaltender to ultimately tie the game. There is a possibility that it will contribute offensively in various scenarios. season.
McKee turned down an NHL chance to spend his final year at Minnesota State University, but he talked about it with his father, Dave McKee, who played in 126 games in six seasons with the Blackhawks, North Stars and Blues, and Hastings. did. He signed an entry-level contract with the Flames in 2020, and after gaining his first NHL experience the following season, Calgary included him in a trade to the Coyotes.
“He was a top offensive lineman at the Division I level, so he has a much better skill set than some players have developed,” Mikesh told the Post. “But he’s also a good penalty killer, a good blocking shot, and a depth guy who has to do all the little things to keep him around.”
With each coach and at each level, McKee found a way to express the “grunt” and “arrogance” that allowed him to transition from NCAA hockey to the AHL and beyond. McKee never stopped believing that his collection of offensive instincts, physicality, and ability to fight when needed would one day lead to regular NHL opportunities.
That hasn’t happened yet. But if Mr. Knott needed proof that his beliefs hold true, Saturday provided more than enough proof.
