TROY -- Kirk MacDonald is still in the minor leagues. He'll have a few more bucks -- quite a few -- in his wallet should he be recalled by the National Hockey League's Boston Bruins.
The Bruins have upgraded the Providence Bruins winger and former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute star's contract recently.
He now has a two-way -- National Hockey League-American Hockey League contract which will significantly increase his pay, should Boston recall him.
"Yeah, I wasn't expecting it," MacDonald said Monday. "I'd signed an AHL contract and that's what I've been working with. This late in the season, it was a surprise.
"Hopefully, it can leads something," else MacDonald said, hoping the Bruins could recall him soon.
'Two-way' contracts refer only to the salary a player is earning in each league (NHL/AHL), not the waiver status of a player.
'Two-way' means that players have two different salary amounts; one for when they are in the minors, and one for when they are in the NHL. If a player with a one way contract was sent down to the minors, he would earn the same salary he was earning in the NHL.
"They're making a run for the Stanley Cup," MacDonald said, noting the Bruins currently hold the Eastern Conference's No. 3 seed. "Maybe I could go up and be sort of a black ace for them in the playoffs. As I said, I wasn't really expecting this."
In 61 games for Providence, MacDonald has 12 goals, 15 assists for 27 points, with 31 penalty minutes and a minus-4 plus/minus rating. The P-Bruins are in sixth in the seven-team AtlanticDivision with a 26-30-3-2 record.
While at Rensselaer, MacDonald beat testicular cancer, which prevented him from playing during his fourth year. He was granted a medical redshirt season by the NCAA.
Ironically, MacDonald's current scoring line at Providence is the same as his redshirt senior season at RPI (2006-07) -- 12-15-27. He was tied with Jake Luthi (4-23-27) for the Engineers' scoring lead that season.
In 137 games during his RPI career, MacDonald scored 47 goals, 56 assists, with 144 penalty minutes. His 103 points is good for 55th place on Rensselaer's all-time career scoring list. Senior Tyler Helfrich (32-70-102) could surpass him in the upcoming ECAC Hockey playoffs.
MacDonald says he's in great health and feeling strong.
"I'm feeling good," the Victoria, B.C. native said. "And I feel like I'm doing fairly well (on the ice). Management seems to think so.
"I'm just trying to get better and get up there (to Boston) some time next year, if not this year."