Prospect Update: Blake McLaughlin

By Thomas Harrington

A third round pick from 2018, Blake McLaughlin completed his junior year of college this past season, playing for the University of Minnesota with fellow Anaheim prospects Jack Perbix and Jackson LaCombe.

In McLaughlin’s third season of NCAA hockey, he played in a career low 31 games, but set career highs with 12 goals and 28 points. Despite the career low in games played, he did appear in every game for Minnesota. The team just played fewer games because of the pandemic. His 16 assists matched his production from the season before, but in six fewer games.

McLaughlin had a slow start to the year, as he recorded only two assists in the team’s first eight games. However, his offensive production took off from there, and he was at his best in late January and early February when he scored 12 points in five games, including a four-point night. McLaughlin had one other four-point night towards the end of the season. Overall, he finished tied for third in goals, assists, and points for Minnesota. He also dropped his penalty minutes from 34 to 8, and improved his +/- from -2 to +9. While neither of these stats are incredibly important, it does show that he was hurting his team less with fewer penalties and was on the ice for more goals scored than goals scored against, two good signs of his development.

There were two things I wanted out of McLaughlin last year. First, to once again be among Minnesota’s offensive leaders, and second for him to score at a more consistent rate. He certainly met the first expectation, finishing in the top three on the team of goals, assists, and points. He didn’t quite meet my second expectation, but he was close. He had one extended streak early in the season where he went six games without a point, but after that, he never went more than two games without a point, and his five-game point streak was a career high. It wasn’t quite the consistency I was hoping for, but he came awfully close.

McLaughlin will be returning to Minnesota for his senior year. In his final year of college hockey, my expectations for McLaughlin are very similar to what I had for him a year ago. First, to be among his team’s offensive leaders. Second, for him to be a more consistent offensive threat. If he can do both of those things, I expect him to be in San Diego for the 2022-2023 season.

McLaughlin is unsigned and Anaheim controls his rights until next August. As long as he has a strong final year of NCAA hockey, I fully expect Anaheim to sign him to a standard entry-level contract. McLaughlin probably won’t ever become an elite scorer in the NHL, but he could become a solid second or third line option, and I think it would be a mistake for the Ducks not to sign him.

The next prospect update will be on Josh Mahura.

Related Articles:

Prospect Update: Roman Durny

Prospect Update: Axel Andersson

Prospect Update: Maxim Golod

Prospect Update: Artyom Galimov

Prospect Update: Jackson LaCombe

Prospect Update: Trevor Janicke

Prospect Update: Jack Perbix

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September 24th, 2021