Judging by his 24 NCAA shutouts, Minnesota State goaltender Dryden McKay is making a case to be the best goalie to ever play college hockey.

In 81 games over three years with MSU, McKay has a combined record of 63-11-4. He leads the NCAA in goals against average and is second in save percentage. The 2020 Hobey Baker Award nominee for the best player in college hockey is also two shutouts away from tying Ryan Miller’s all time record of 26. But the 23-year-old junior is totally committed to team success.

“I’m kind of just focused on college and doing as well as I can here,” McKay said. McKay is no longer eligible for the NHL draft, but a team can sign him as an undrafted free agent. However, he has one more year of college eligibility left.

MSU Head Coach Mike Hastings didn’t directly answer if McKay was one of the best goalies in NCAA history, but said he can only get better. “One thing that I think comes to mind there is facts,” he said. “Numbers are facts: wins, goals against average, save percentage, shutouts, those types of things. [But] when do those wins come? When do they make an impact? I still think there’s a lot of runway for Dryden to continue to build his book of business before he’s done here.”

McKay played well during the 2019 postseason, but he hasn’t played a playoff game since because COVID-19 cancelled the 2020 playoffs. However, the Mavericks sit in first place in WCHA standings. After a loss to Bemidji State on Friday, they have 11 games left before the playoffs start on March 12.

A Strong 2020-2021 Season

Dryden McKay has played incredibly in 10 games this season, recording six shutouts. He is averaging less than one goal allowed per game.

A glance at some game recaps would suggest that some of these shutouts were relatively easy. For example, in last week’s 4-0 win against Ferris State, McKay only had to stop 11 shots. But McKay said nights like those could be harder than games where has to make more saves.

“I think it could be harder sometimes,” McKay said. “It kind of depends on the score. If it’s a tight game you start to get a little cold back there. The game’s tight and you’re waiting to get involved.” McKay added that he learned to how to prepare for those kinds of games.

Perhaps that’s why Dryden McKay credited his shutouts to the entire team. “Shutouts are team shutouts,” McKay said. “There haven’t been any that I can think of that have been [ones] where I had to do it all by myself, that’s for sure. I think you saw on Saturday how many shots [defenseman Wyatt Aamodt] blocked. That’s everybody, that’s the whole team.”

He also said he has a great relationship with his defensemen, especially the team’s new freshman additions. “[Akito Hirose] and [Jake] Livingstone have been huge for us,” McKay said. “They’ve stepped into those roles and they played every game. They don’t look like freshmen for sure, so it’s been great to see them gel so quickly and we haven’t missed a beat.

Before Friday’s game (in which he did not play), McKay was optimistic about his team’s season so far. “We’ve come together really well, we’ve handled adversity really well, we have a great group of guys, and we’re feeling good about where we are right now,” he said. 

A Name to Live Up to

Dryden McKay shares a name and number with Montreal Canadiens legend Ken Dryden. He said he also idolized current Canadiens’ goalie Carey Price as a child.

But McKay looked up to other goalies for inspiration, too. Unlike Dryden and Price, McKay is less than six feet tall. So he turned to smaller goalies for inspiration, like former New York Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak and Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators.

His father Ross was also a professional goalie. He played in 60 AHL games, as well as one rough outing with the Hartford Whalers in the 1990-1991 season. He gave up five goals and had a .800 SV%. Ross spent his junior career with the Calgary Wranglers of the WHL before playing for the University of Saskatchewan. But his son, who was born in the United States, chose a different path.

“I was fortunate enough to make an NAHL team as a 16/17-year-old, played two years in that league and then ended up kind of bouncing around a couple different teams,” McKay said. “I ended up sticking with [the Madison Capitols] in the USHL and that’s kind of when I started to get the college attention and started the recruiting process there.”

One way he’s emulating his namesake is through shutouts. 11.6% of Ken Dryden’s NHL games were shutouts. That’s a better percentage than four of the five all time shutout leaders. At the NCAA level, McKay is two shutouts away from tying Ryan Miller’s all time record of 26.

Dryden McKay admitted that he’s thinking passing Ryan Miller’s 26 shutouts in a MSU jersey. “I think I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t in the back of my head,” McKay said. “Every goalie wants to get a shutout every game, obviously the goal is to not give up any goals, but all that really matters in the end is getting the win. Whether that’s 6-5 or 1-0, I’m happy with either.”

Leaving a Legacy at Minnesota State

Coach Hastings lauded Dryden McKay, not only for his play on the ice but his impact off the ice. “The numbers speak for themselves, as far as wins, shutouts, goals against, save percentage,” he said. “And those numbers are irrefutable. But I think he brings more than that. He brings a comfort for our club to go out and play free.”

Hastings added that strong goaltending can calm the whole team. “If you’re goaltending’s not solid, at times you could play apprehensive,” Hastings said. “You could be worried once the puck crosses your red line what’s going to happen next. If we do break down then he’s going to be there to back us up. He’s somebody that’s made an incredible impact on our program and we hope that can continue.”

McKay agreed with his coach. In the 2019 postseason, he was 5-0 en route to a WCHA championship, but the Mavericks lost 6-3 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The Mavericks made the the NCAA Division One tournament six times but have never won a game.

“We’re trying to build our legacy here, and we’re hoping to be that team that raises more banners in this rink,” McKay said. “Hopefully at the end of the year [we] get that first NCAA win and hopefully three more after that and we can raise that final big banner here in MSU.”

But his coach said McKay has grown since the team’s 2019 run. “We needed [Dryden] to get into better shape once he got here, and he’s done that,” Hastings said. He added that McKay developed better practice habits since coming to MSU. Since he’s playing less than he did in junior hockey, he has more time to focus on the mental aspects of his game.

Dryden McKay and Minnesota State continue their push to the playoffs Friday. The Mavericks will host Bowling Green at 7 p.m. You can listen to the game live here.

Ben Baruch

Born and raised on Long Island. Isles fan since 2009. Studying journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park.