5 Interesting Facts About Zack MacEwen
By Ryan Gagne
Zack MacEwen joined the LA Kings at the trade deadline on Mar. 3, 2023, making his way to Tinseltown from the Philadelphia Flyers. Ultimately, the transaction was quite surprising because many people thought general manager Rob Blake was done dealing but snuck in one final trade before the buzzer sounded at 3:00 pm ET.
MacEwen brings some grit to the lineup, collecting 54 penalty minutes with the Flyers and 130 hits, which puts him near the top of each category on his new team as they battle for a division championship. After two games in black and silver, let’s learn more about one of the newest Kings.
MacEwen Eventually Made It Into the NHL Through an Amateur Try Out
MacEwen was eligible for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft but went undrafted despite being an eligible prospect with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL. Impressively, after achieving 74 points with the Gatineau Olympiques in 2016-17, he signed an amateur contract with the Utica Comets in the AHL on Mar. 3, 2017.
During his first campaign with the Comets, he won the Ian Anderson Award as the team’s most-improved rookie. Eventually, he made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 11, 2019. However, after 210 games over three seasons with the Comets and Canucks organizations, the Philadelphia Flyers claimed MacEwen off the waivers on Oct. 13, 2021.
Four of MacEwen’s Seven Goals in Philadelphia Were Game-Winners
MacEwen has 13 career goals, scoring six as a member of the Canucks and seven with the Flyers. Interestingly, he played in only 121 games over two seasons with Philadelphia, collecting four game-winners during his tenure.
During the 2021-22 season, he scored three goals, with his first goal against the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 12 serving as the winner. Then, in 2022-23 his first tally on Oct. 22 was the winner versus the Nashville Predators. Additionally, he had the winner on Nov. 5 against the Ottawa Senators and Jan. 9 against the Buffalo Sabres. Surprisingly, MacEwen has only four goals this year, with three of them as decisive tallies.
Macewen Has Skated in the Sixth Most Games by a Player From Charlottetown, Price Edward Island.
There have been 21 NHL players from Charlottetown, Price Edward Island, a small community with 40,500 people. Historically, Al MacAdam played in 864 games to lead all skaters, with MacEwen and Ross Johnston (New York Islanders) as the only active players.
Recently, he skated in his 178th game, moving to sixth on the all-time Charlottetown list behind MacAdam, Bob MacMillan (752), Bob Stewart (575), Adam McQuaid (512), and Billy MacMillan (446).
MacEwan’s Reputation is Grit and Sandpaper
MacEwen has skated in 178 games and has just 27 career points. Interestingly, he’s collected 233 penalty minutes, 196 shots, and 403 hits while playing an average of 10:03 minutes a night.
Furthermore, while playing with the Flyers, he set a personal record for 12 penalty minutes in a single game on Mar. 3, 2022, against the Florida Panthers. MacEwen also had two fighting majors against the Detroit Red Wings on Mar. 22, 2022, which is his most in a game.
MacEwen Becomes the 23rd player in LA Kings History to wear #17
In 1968, Bill Flette became the first Kings player to wear #17, many years before other names like Jimmy Carson, Jari Kurri, Lubomir Visnovsky, and Ilya Kovalchuk came to town.
However, Lias Andersson is the last player to wear the number for one game in 2022-23 and is currently busy tearing it up in the AHL with 46 points through 51 games. Lucky for MacEwen, who wore #17 in Philadelphia and #71 in Vancouver, his number was available when he touched down in Los Angeles.