I've watched quite a few Spokane games this season to see Catton and De Luca, so I saw McIsaac a lot too. He's usually on the second D pair with 20-year-old Mac Gross while the first pair is 20-year-old Reagan Wiles with 2023 draft-eligible Saige Weinstein. That defensive group as a whole isn't great, especially when you add in the third-pair guys (04s Brinson, Crampton and Bonni, who plays most games as a forward now). Along with McIsaac being a high draft pick for them, the fact that Weinstein is the only other non-04 is a big reason why McIsaac can be expected to play a big role for them next season.
As to his game and upside, I haven't been a huge fan but he's definitely showing promise. A big body who can skate really well. Not sure about second-best in his bantam draft class, but he's very mobile and fairly quick, making him a strong rush defender. He's also shown the ability to throw hits or just be physical in general, but there's a lot of room for improvement too. I've found him to be fairly conservative on rush defense and would like to see him play more aggressively in all three zones. I'm sure some of that will come with added confidence in a bigger role next year. With the puck, he hasn't shown very much. He has decent speed with the puck, but I don't see him as a puck carrier at the next level as his hands don't look great, at least not consistently. His shot is excellent, with very good strength and decent accuracy, but he tends to fire it from bad angles and wants to get rid of the puck as soon as he gets it. Not sure if he has the puck skills to fake out opponents and get himself into better shooting positions, but he should definitely be able to grow into a puck distributor with a good shot.
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