After a remarkable season filled with team titles and individual accolades, winger Mac Swanson of Anchorage tied a bow on his bounty Saturday, when the Pittsburgh Penguins made him a seventh-round NHL draft pick.

Swanson, 18, who is headed to North Dakota as a true freshman this fall, became part of the first father-son combination in Alaska history to be drafted when the Penguins selected him 207th overall. His dad, Brian, was a fifth-round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks in 1984 and went on to play 70 career games in the world’s best hockey league.

Mac Swanson spearheaded the Fargo Force to the U.S. Hockey League’s Anderson Cup as regular-season champions and Clark Cup as playoff champions. He was voted the league’s Player of the Year and Forward of the Year, and was a First-Team All-USHL pick. He also was voted Most Valuable Player of the Clark Cup. USA Hockey named him its junior Player of the Year.

Swanson led the USHL in assists and finished third in points with 26-51—77 totals in 55 games. His 5-12—17 totals in 12 playoff games earned him the postseason scoring title and was nearly twice as many points as the next most prolific point producer.

Getting drafted proved a perfect ending to his 2023-24 campaign.

“My plan was to not watch (the draft),’’ Swanson said. “My advisors thought I might go from late second round, to the early third, all the way to seventh, so I tried not to think about it too much.

“It was definitely a big goal for me at the beginning of the year. I think I proved myself. I definitely wanted to get drafted, but it wasn’t the end-all, be-all for me as a player.’’

Given Swanson’s credentials, the only reason he fell to the last round of the draft was his size. Listed at 5-foot-8, 167 pounds, he was one of just two players among the 225 players drafted Friday and Saturday to be as short as 5-8. Only 27 players drafted were sub-6-feet, and two-thirds of those (18) were listed at 5-11.

“You really can’t do anything about your height, so no reason to worry about it,’’ Swanson said.

He’s spent the last year improving his strength in the gym and working diligently to improve his shot. Brian says his son’s shot is far deadlier than his ever was, and that’s from a guy who once racked 34 goals in an American Hockey League season.

Mac Swanson’s work on his shot is reflected in his stats. After making the USHL’s All-Rookie Team in 2022-23 with 12-43—55 totals in 57 games, he more than doubled his goal scoring in the recently completed season.

Swanson was initially scheduled to spend time at North Dakota starting July 7 – North Dakota likes incoming freshman to spend time on campus prior to the fall semester – but that plan will be delayed by getting drafted. Swanson now will report to the Penguins’ development camp, which starts July 5, before headed to Grand Forks.

“I definitely want to make an impact, make the lineup for every game,’’ Swanson said of his first season in college. “I know it won’t be easy.’’

Swanson played center throughout his youth hockey career before moving to left wing in his two seasons with Fargo – that switch was largely based on his size. He said he imagines he’s a left wing for life now.

Swanson comes from an athletic, hockey-playing family. Besides father Brian, who finished his career with two seasons, including a Kelly Cup title, with the ECHL’s Alaska Aces, mom Lynn was a NCAA Division I soccer player. His older sisters, Addison and Sydney, both have played NCAA Division III hockey. And Mac’s maternal grandfather, the late Harry McDonald, was a godfather of Alaska hockey – the rink in Eagle River is named after him. Two of Mac’s maternal uncles, Reid and Kyle, played Division I hockey, as did his cousin, Cam McDonald, Reid’s son. Cam has signed a contract with the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders for next season.

Mac Swanson’s selection ended a four-year drought for Alaskans in the NHL entry draft. Until the Penguins picked him, no Alaskan had been drafted since Vegas selected goaltender Isaiah Saville of Anchorage in the fifth round of the 2019 draft.