If you thought the Boston Bruins letting go of Brad Marchand on deadline day was a tough pill to swallow, wait till you read about this trade that went down at the American Hockey League.

That’s because Comets general manager Dan MacKinnon has traded Will MacKinnon right ahead of the AHL trade deadline on March 14. You may be wondering, there’s nothing dramatic about last-minute trades. However, as the last name suggests, Will is Dan MacKinnon’s son. What the Utica Comets got in return shocked the fans even more.

“The GM of the Utica Comets, Dan MacKinnon, traded his son Will MacKinnon for Future Considerations… Trading your son for Future Considerations is DIABOLICAL,” B/R Open Ice wrote in the caption of their post. The bizarre move left hockey fans scratching their heads as the Comets traded Will MacKinnon for nothing. So one fan hypothesized: “You’d have to assume it was probably what the son wanted.”

Unfortunately, all fans have right now. Neither the MacKinnons, nor the team, gave any details on why they traded the defenseman to the Cleveland Monsters. However, the Comets’ social media page did bid farewell to the Plymouth, Michigan native. “Thanks for everything, Mack!” they captioned the post announcing the 24-year-old’s trade.

Will MacKinnon’s short-lived career with the Comets saw him play 82 games for the team across two seasons. The GM’s son played 42 games this season, assisting four goals before the team traded him to Cleveland. While Utica made an addition in Austin Strand and will see Seamus Casey and Santeri Hatakka return from injury, these developments could not hold a candle to the Mackinnon trade. However, as bizarre and shocking as the trade may sound, could the move benefit the ice hockey player?

A blessing in disguise for the hockey star’s prospects?

While some theorized whether Will MacKinnon himself had some input in the last-minute trade move, others took a more matter-of-fact approach. One fan highlighted how the defenseman didn’t really have stellar stats this season. “42 games played, and 4 points. Less diabolical and more strategically doing their job,” the netizen responded to B/R Open Ice’s post.

Will MacKinnon didn’t have impressive stats last season either. Of the 82 games MacKinnon played for the Comets, he amassed a 3-7-10 record. That’s when others looked beyond the apparent shock value of the trade. Taking a closer look at the standings, many hockey enthusiasts argued that Dan MacKinnon sent his son to a team that’s done much better than Utica this season.

“Utica is a bottom 3 team in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland currently sits in a playoff spot. So yeah, doing his son a favor,” commented one netizen. And the X-user was right about the Cleveland Monsters being in a much better spot. Will MacKinnon’s new team is 4th in the North Division, and 10th in the Eastern Conference.

Where exactly are the Utica Comets in the standings? They’re in 7th place in the North Division and second-last in the Eastern Conference. So it’s safe to argue that the move may have benefitted Will MacKinnon. Yet, speculations aside, some fans simply commended Dan MacKinnon for letting his son carve his own path. “The anti-nepo treatment. I respect it, though his son probably feels slighted,” commented one hockey fan.

Dan McKinnon himself has worked hard to rise through the ranks of the New Jersey Devils organization. Starting out as Director of Player Personnel in 2016, MacKinnon has become the NHL team’s Assistant GM, Senior VP of Hockey Operations and Utica Comets GM. Finally, the shocking news also elicited some hilarious reactions from the fans.

Jokes such as, “Should’ve cleaned his room,” littered the comments and quotes sections of the post. So what was your reaction to the news? Give us your thoughts in the comments.