College hockey isn’t a sport that gets a lot of coverage in the sports world. It’s a full step below college baseball on the American sports rung of hierarchy. It has the final four relegated from ESPN2 to ESPNU and sometimes the dreaded ESPNnews. The college world series even gets top billing on ESPN when it reaches that time of year. So when I talk about Dryden McKay, you might have no idea who this guy is. But the 2021-2022 season for Dryden McKay might be one of the strangest seasons for a marquee player in major sports.
For those unfamiliar with college hockey not all players make it directly to the NCAA out of high school, and there’s no Junior College level for hockey that costs players their eligibility. However, there is a well established Junior hockey level that players can continue to improve without losing any eligibility. McKay took this route in the USHL. Also, the NHL draft operates much differently than the NFL and NBA draft – there’s no need to declare for the draft that will deem a player ineligible for NCAA play. In that way it’s more similar to the MLB draft, but still is different. NHL teams are able to own rights for a longer period of time than what MLB teams get. Often the best college programs will have a roster full of NHL draft picks that will immediately jump to the next level once their season is complete. However, you’re only allowed to be drafted up until the age of 20 if they play in North America. McKay didn’t join the Minnesota State Maverick’s hockey team until he was 19 years old. Most goalies that take the USHL route to an NCAA program won’t be drafted, and McKay was no different. If a player is over 20 years old and hasn’t been drafted, they’re a free agent and can be signed by any team. Dryden McKay fits into this category of player.
From the time McKay arrived in Mankato he was a dominant force. He instantly contended for the starting spot in his rookie season. But once he became the main netminder for the Mavericks in his Sophomore and Junior season he established himself is one of the best in his conference and in the country. Even with those accolades, he still stayed in college for his senior season, and that’s where his story starts getting interesting.
Once the NHL announced they wouldn’t be sending players to the Beijing Winter Olympics US hockey had to start looking elsewhere to fill out their roster. The next logical step was to pull the top college athletes and players from other professional leagues around the world. As a result of that, McKay was selected to the tryouts for the team. As you would expect for every international or Olympic event players are drug tested. In one of these tests McKay returned a positive test for a banned substance. Thus ending his bid to make the Olympic team. In a strange way, this would normally also ban him from NCAA play. However, there wasn’t any mention of the NCAA testing for this substance or really any testing in general. McKay (and those close to him) clearly felt that this was strange that one competition could ban him from another were able to delay his suspension.
Minnesota State came out with a statement after news of his positive test broke:
And while as an institution we operate completely outside of the USADA process and timeline, we naturally recognized our obligation to determine Dryden’s eligibility for NCAA competition. With appropriate due diligence, we were able to quickly confirm with the NCAA that as a result of the arbitrator’s decision to lift the suspension, Dryden remained eligible for competition and that was the case throughout the remainder of the season, which concluded with an NCAA championship appearance on April 9.
https://ktoe.com/2022/04/19/maverick-athletics-statement-on-dryden-mckay-suspension-by-usada/
After he resumed play with Minnesota State he had one of the greatest seasons in history by a goalie. He lead the country with 9 shutouts, rattled off a program best in consecutive wins. All of this lead to him being named a finalist for the Mike Richter Award – the best goalie in college hockey. But more impressively he won the Hobey Baker award for the best player in college hockey. Basically the Heisman trophy of college hockey. To put it in perspective how difficult this is for a goalie – the last time it happened was in 2001 when Ryan Miller won it. So it’s pretty much the same as a defensive player winning the Heisman trophy. Oh and he lead his team to their first ever Championship appearance, though they came up short in the end.
The week after the Championship game was completed his suspension was officially handed down. A 6 month ban that left him unable to join an NHL team for a late season push like many Defensemen and Forwards would do after they finish their collegiate season. This is the low point of his year.
Weeks later though, McKay was able to sign on with the Toronto Marlies – the AHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’ll still be able to participate in training camp and play next season – since his suspension will be completed before then.
If college hockey, or even the NHL were bigger draws in the sporting landscape this story would be headline news. It’s a complicated process spanning 3 different competitions in a single season. In college football we’ve had players get suspended and then leave early to join the NFL. But it doesn’t happen with the Heisman winner. Even more, the Heisman winner is almost guaranteed to make it to the NFL. The National Player of the Year in college basketball is guaranteed to be drafted into the NBA and will likely get big minutes from their professional team. Dryden McKay won’t even be guaranteed to make it to an NHL game next year. He’s deemed too small and too slow for his size by NHL teams to play between the pipes. Sure the top players in the MLB draft have to serve time in the minors before making their big league debut. But that happens for pitchers and fielders. NHL free agents (skaters) often join the major team directly to finish the season. It’s a strange situation, but if there’s anything to learn from it, don’t bet against Dryden McKay – we’ll likely see him on an NHL roster before we know it.