Mathew MacDougall commits to Spitfires

Windsor, ON – 2018 NHL Draft prospect Mathew MacDougall has committed to the Spitfires, general manager Warren Rychel announced today.

Originally Barrie’s third round (58th overall) pick in the 2016 OHL Priority Selection, MacDougall, 17, was acquired by the Spitfires on June 30th.

The Aurora, Ont. native played his minor midget season with the York Simcoe Express where he captured an OHL Cup title.  He was verbally committed to the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) prior to meeting with Rychel last week.

“I felt like this was a great opportunity for me,” the 5-foot-10, 175-pound forward said of joining the Spitfires. “The more I asked people, the more good things I heard about the city and the organization. Hearing all that pushed me to sign here. The team had a great season last year and has a great track record of developing players. It’s something I decided I wanted to be part of.”

Rychel says MacDougall has a chance to be a very good player with professional potential.

“He’s eligible for (the) 2018 (NHL Draft) and he’ll be on a lot of radars,” Rychel said. “We took a chance when we made this trade. But it paid off. I spent time with the family and let them know what we had to offer. He’s a modern day type player – very fast and skilled. On top of that, he’s a great quality kid off the ice. He comes from a great family. It’s a significant addition for us at the right time.”

MacDougall is set to arrive in Windsor today and will be made available to media Wednesday, before settling in to his new billet home.

For more information please visit windsorspitfires.com.