Calen McKay Scouting Report

[Kendrick 4,741]

 

Calen McKay

Centerman - 6'4 - 203 lbs

Canadian

 

Calen McKay has been a bit of a reclamation project. In his first short stint in the VHLM with Las Vegas he struggled to get anything going, but he was just getting his feet wet. The trouble with youngsters is some of them take longer to become accustomed to the style, speed and strength of other VHLM players. McKay drastically improved in his full official full season in the VHLM with the Mexico City squad down below the wall. McKay turned in a season that made scouts very proud.

 

His overall vision for the ice improved and he was able to play with more confidence and allow for the space to come to him. At times McKay was out there doing veteran moves and feeling like the player that he was so sought after before coming to the VHLM. Mexico City saw a big increase in production when McKay started factoring into the score sheet on the second line. His strength and power could really be seen and he started to find his teammates at a higher frequency.

 

Some pros to this new found confidence were his goal scoring ability. McKay notched a total of 36 goals last year; with 8 of them coming on the power play unit. Pretty good for a second line centre who is committed to face-offs and shutting down opposing players. His defensive game improved as well as he almost averaged a hit per game. Although, he had an increase in his physicality; scouts were hoping he would explode in that area given his large frame.

 

Things McKay needs to continue working on are obviously his physicality but also his ability to look up and find the outlet pass. Many breakaways were missed because McKay had his head down and wasn't ready to make that headman pass. I'm sure in the VHLE, McKay will have a chance to grow a lot and factor into the scoresheet in more ways than just scoring, but scouts did want to see a stronger defensive game from Calen.

 

One of the biggest things going forward for this young prospect is to tap into that confidence and make sure he knows his worth. At times he under estimates himself and it gets in his own head. We would like to see a more complete game from the outset start of the season and hopefully that comes with more challenging opponents now that Calen is making the jump into the VHLE. Toronto got themselves a pretty good player in the middle of the draft, so we will see what he has in store from here on out.