GM of AHL’s Utica Comets trades his own son for future considerations
Hockey dads are known for many things, but Utica Comets General Manager Dan MacKinnon took it to a new level.
On Tuesday, the AHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils announced they had traded 24-year-old defenseman Will MacKinnon to the Cleveland Monsters in exchange for future considerations, in an extremely rare “father trades son” transaction.
Future Considerations, too, often mean nothing in return.
NEWS: Will MacKinnon has been traded to the Cleveland Monsters for Future Considerations.
Thanks for everything, Mack! pic.twitter.com/R0RtGpJntd
Will played 82 games for the Comets over the last two seasons but had been out of the lineup for several games, last playing on March 7 against the Syracuse Crunch.
But, with several blueliners joining the Comets at least temporarily through trade and injury, including Austin Strand, Seamus Casey and Santeri Hatakka, there didn’t look to be space for Will in the lineup through the rest of the season.
While most moves in the organization likely have to get approval from the Devils’ NHL general manager Tom Fitzgerald, it’s a decent assumption that Dan was likely the one to tell his son about the deal – and that he traded him for effectively nothing.
In addition to his time with the Comets, Will played 148 games in the ECHL with the Reading Royals and the Adirondack Thunder while helping the Thunder to the 2024 ECHL Eastern Conference Final.
Before that, he was a standout blueliner at the University of New Hampshire.
The trade isn’t the first family-related moment for Will in his professional hockey career, either. When he signed with the Comets on July 16, 2024, he did so alongside goaltender Jeremy Brodeur, the son of Hockey Hall of Fame netminder Martin Brodeur.
While the NHL Trade Deadline passed on March 7, the AHL roster deadline is on March 14. With the deal, Will moves up in the North Division standings from the last placed Comets to the fourth place Monsters.