MacEwen has gone from minor midget, junior A to signing NHL contract

The Stratford native recently inked a three-year, entry-level deal with the Vancouver Canucks.

“I’ve got a lot of people reaching out to me from days when I was playing junior A or even minor midget,” MacEwen said Saturday afternoon. “A lot of people wouldn't have believed that I would be where I am today back then.”

MacEwen played with the Pownal Red Devils minor midget team before joining the Charlottetown major midget Islanders in 2012-13. After two seasons with the Amherst Ramblers, MacEwen joined the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for the 2015-16 season.

The six-foot-four, 215-pound centre was traded to the Gatineau Olympiques during the off-season and has blossomed into a two-way threat.

“Being put in a more offensive role this year with Gatineau has shown people I have some skill to go along with the toughness and grit,” said MacEwen, who has 28 goals and 39 assists for 67 points in 62 games this season. “It’s amazing the progression I’ve made, and I am very proud of that, but I owe it all to keeping a good attitude and progressing with hard work and dedication.”

MacEwen had talked to a few NHL teams this season but felt the Canucks provided him with the best opportunity. He signed the paperwork a week ago today and then went out and had three-assists that night in the Olympiques 5-2 win in Sherbrooke, Que.

The Stratford native recently inked a three-year, entry-level deal with the Vancouver Canucks.

The six-foot-four, 215-pound centre was traded to the Gatineau Olympiques during the off-season and has blossomed into a two-way threat.

The Canucks announced the signing during the game.

“It’s definitely a big weight off my shoulders,” MacEwen admitted. “My coach said I looked like I was about 20 pounds lighter on my skates (Friday) night.”

MacEwen said he has continued to work on his skating and has become stronger in recent years. An invitation to the Anaheim Ducks camp at the start of the season opened his eyes to what could be available to him after junior.

“I got a taste of what the pros were like and I made it something I really wanted to accomplish,” he said. “This is what I want to do . . . so I am going to do whatever it takes to get there.”

MacEwen wasn't drafted into the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League or the NHL, but he didn’t let that stop him improving.

“I’d like people to know a positive attitude gets you really far in hockey and in life, too,” he said. “You can’t count yourself out. I never did.”

MacEwen said his parents, Craig and Juliana, have been beside him every step of the way.

“It means the world to me that they get to experience this,” he said. “I owe every single aspect of where I’m at to them because they were my biggest supporters and they did everything to give me the best opportunity and the best chance I could have to support my goals. I wouldn't be here without them. There’s no words that could thank them enough for what they’ve done for me.”

After his junior season ends, MacEwen will join the Canucks AHL team in Utica, N.Y. He will train in Vancouver in the spring before the team’s development camp in July.

Moncton Wildcats general manager Roger Shannon said he was pleased for MacEwen.

"Anybody who comes into the league at 19 and signs an NHL contract deserves a lot of credit,” he told Brunswick News. “It just shows that the dream of playing in the NHL is only over when you decide it's over. When Zack MacEwen was playing junior A in Amherst, he could've given up on the dream but he didn't.”