E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120: Mike McKee #81

By Eldon MacDonald

81. Mike McKee - “Man-child” - D - Canada

Vitals: Size - 6’5”, 235 lb.; Shoots left; Born 17-Aug-93 - Newmarket, ON
Team: Exeter High School, HS CT
2010-11Stats: 27-8-15-23-50

Rankings:
81 - E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120
86 - Christopher Ralph's Top 210
192 - NHL Central Scouting's Final Rankings (144th North American skater)
Draft result:
Undrafted

Yes, Mike McKee always has been a “man-child”, weighing 12 pounds at birth. Now at 6’5 235 he is so big that he even starts at tight end on the football team. However, some things about Mike have not always been the way they are now:
1. he was not always a hockey player as only started hockey at the ancient age (for Canada anyways) of 8.
2. he was not always a defenseman since he just converted from forward a couple of years ago.
3. he didn’t generate a whole lot of buzz until the 2011 NHL Research, Development and Orientation Camp when he was paired with Scott Mayfield and didn’t look out of place. After that, the cat was out of the bag.

It is difficult to get a real read on Mike McKee since he plays US high school and many of his opponents look like they are just recently removed from diapers. However, we have already established that he is huge and we found out at the development camp that he is a good skater with a big shot. Beyond that, almost everything else is conjecture, pleasant dreaming and future skills to be learned. However, most NHL teams would love to have a smooth skating tight end to put their backfield in motion so Mr. McKee is likely to go much higher than his current skills would otherwise warrant - think Brett Ponich being drafted by St. Louis in the second by way of reference. The NHL has him rated seventh round but I find it hard to believe that 30 NHL teams could hold off drafting this “man-child” after the second or third rounds.