Goaltender Dryden McKay, who won the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA's best player, has signed a two-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. Shortly before the signing, McKay received a six-month ban after testing positive for a banned substance.
McKay's six-month ban began on April 14, which was the day that he accepted the punishment. The Minnesota State goaltender will be eligible to begin training at the Marlies' facilities on Aug. 25 and can suit up for the team as early of Oct. 11.
"Thank you to everyone in Mankato for an incredible 4 years! Memories and relationships that will last a lifetime," McKay tweeted. "I will always be proud to be a Maverick. Excited for the next chapter with the Toronto Marlies!"
The 24-year-old netminder became just the third goaltender in NCAA history to win the Hobey Baker Award. Robb Stauber in 1988 and Ryan Miller in 2001 are the other two.
McKay recently played his final collegiate game on April 9 when Minnesota State lost 5-1 to Denver in the Frozen Four national title game. During the 2021-22 season, McKay accumulated a 38-5-2 record to go along with a 1.31 goals-against-average and a .931 save percentage. He also set an NCAA Division I record for the most wins in a single season.
According to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, McKay was informed of the banned substance violation on Feb. 1, which stemmed from a urine sample that was collected on Jan. 23. That January sample netted a positive test for ostarine, which is a muscle growth drug that is on the USADA Protocol for Olympic and Paralympic Movement Testing, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee National Anti-Doping Policy and the International Ice Hockey Federation Anti-Doping Regulations.
The amount that was found in McKay's sample was trillionths of a gram, which didn't have any impact on the star goaltender's performance. At the time of the drug test, McKay was being tested after being named as an alternate player for the 2022 United States men's Olympic hockey team for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
McKay stated that the presence of ostarine could've been from one of the supplements that he was actively taking. Since the positive test, McKay has sent those supplements to a lab to be tested.
The Minnesota State netminder was initially suspended for the positive drug test in January, but the ban was lifted on Feb. 3 by an arbitrator until a final decision could be made by the USADA. That allowed McKay to finish out the season and record 34 shutouts for the Mavericks.
