the league. He also played in the 1980 NHL All-Star Game on a line with Gretzky and the Flyers' Bill Barber. With just six penalty minutes all season, he finished fourth in balloting for the Lady Byng Trophy as the league's most gentlemanly player, an award ultimately won by Gretzky. On October 14, 1979, MacDonald along with Callighen both assisted on Gretzky's first NHL goal. When team captain Ron Chipperfield was traded in early 1980, Macdonald was made the NHL Oilers' second ever captain, and fifth overall in the history of the franchise. MacDonald continued to produce well in , but ultimately lost his place on the Oilers' top line with the development of talented young players like Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, and especially Finnish star Jari Kurri, who would form the most lethal scoring duo in the league with Gretzky for most of the 1980s. At the trade deadline, MacDonald was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks, where he responded well with 14 points in 12 games to finish the season with 24 goals and 57 points in 63 games between Edmonton and Vancouver. Despite scoring fairly regularly when in the Canucks' lineup, MacDonald would have a tumultuous tenure in Vancouver where his lack of grit and defensive play failed to endear him to the coaching staff. He scored 18 goals and 33 points in 59 games for the Canucks in , but was briefly assigned to the minors for the first time in his career and then barely played in the playoffs as the Canucks reached the Stanley Cup Finals. He would appear in only 17 games for the Canucks in , spending most of the season in the minors before being released at the end of the year. After being released by the Canucks, MacDonald spent three more seasons playing in Austria before retiring in 1986. He finished his career with 91 goals and 100 assists for 191 points in 219 NHL games, and added 171 goals and 165 assists for 336 points in 476 games in the WHA. Following the conclusion of his playing career, MacDonald accepted a head coaching job in Austria, and has spent most of his time since coaching in both Europe and North America. In 1988–89, he was named the International Hockey League Coach of the Year after leading the Muskegon Lumberjacks to a 57–18–7 record and the league championship. Career statistics External