MacDonald adds size to the CBJ prospect pool

When the college hockey season came to a close, the Blue Jackets wasted no time to make a splash in the undrafted free agent market as they signed North Dakota defenseman Caleb MacDonald to fill a hole in their prospect pool.

The Cambridge, Ontario, native is a 22-year-old, 6-4, 224-pound left-shot defenseman. MacDonald’s size is what caught CBJ director of hockey operations Rick Nash’s eye when they met during UND’s visit to take on Miami University early in the college season.

“What we liked about him was just his size,” Nash said. “We felt like there was a little bit of a hole in our prospect pool of big, left-shot D, and we thought that he would be a nice guy to acquire a big, steady defenseman that has some skill too.”

PROSPECTS CENTRAL: Stay up to date on the CBJ future presented by Ruoff Mortgage

With undrafted free agents, it is a two-way street, however. The Blue Jackets liked the defenseman, but to make the two-year deal happen, MacDonald had to want to start his professional career in Columbus.

“I got to meet Nash and a couple of other people in the organization, and they really sold me on the organization and the city of Columbus,” MacDonald told BlueJackets.com. “Ultimately it is the best place for me.”

After three years in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, where he was named the league’s top defenseman in 2022-23, MacDonald spent the past two seasons playing college hockey. His first was at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, where he had a line of 4-10-14 in 31 games played.

PIPELINE PODCAST: Get to know Caleb MacDonald

This past season he hit the transfer portal, as many have done, and landed in North Dakota to play for a program that has won eight NCAA championships. MacDonald recorded three goals and seven assists for 10 points with 42 penalty minutes, 68 blocked shots and a plus-7 rating in 35 games with the Fighting Hawks.

The focus of Nash and Waddell has been on diversifying the Jackets’ prospect pool, and adding the big defenseman helped do just that.

“Going through our prospect pool and seeing the guys we have, whether it’s (Denton) Mateychuk, Gavin Brindley, you start going through the list and just trying to look for any holes,” Nash said. “We thought that was kind of a hole. We got a big, right-shot D with (2024 second-round pick) Charlie Elick, we just thought (MacDonald) was a nice player that we would love to have under our umbrella.”

His contract starts in the 2025-26 season, but MacDonald stopped in Columbus shortly after signing in March to meet some of his future teammates and other players within the Blue Jackets prospect pool.

“They showed me around the room, their facilities. I got to skate a little bit, which was awesome,” he said. “I also got to grab lunch with (fellow college signee Jack) Williams and Cayden Lindstrom, which was awesome. Those guys have been there for a bit now so I got to get a feel of what it’s like there, and then to watch one of the games. It was a great experience.”

His attention has now turned to next season and making sure he is as ready as he can be when it comes to preseason camp. MacDonald’s strength is on the defensive side of the puck, and he knows that he must lean on that to make it to the NHL.

“I’m looking to get bigger, faster and stronger. It’s a big jump up to professional, and I want to be as ready as possible,” MacDonald said. “My defensive game and shot blocking has to be great.”