Montreal Canadiens TPT: Michael McCarron’s Potential

Michael McCarron has been a prospect who Montreal Canadiens fans still aren’t sure will make it. Can he ever become a full-time NHLer?

An easy knock on the Montreal Canadiens organization is that they don’t have any high-level up-and-comers knocking on the door. That may have been easy to say a couple of years ago, but the Habs do have a lot of talent in the system. If you need an example, look no further than Victor Mete who was drafted last year and has found a way to push for a roster spot.

Some players who Montreal have selected in the 1st round have frustrated members of the fan base. The Canadiens have had three 1st rounders play for them in the last six years: Nathan Beaulieu (2011), Alex Galchenyuk (2012), and Mikhail Sergachev (2015). Both Beaulieu and Sergachev are no longer with the organization, but Galchenyuk has had a decent career in Montreal so far with 93 goals and 117 assists for a total of 210 points in 352 games.

The point totals are going to continue to soar for Galchenyuk, but fans are still looking for the next 1st round pick to make a statement at the NHL level, which brings us to Michael McCarron.

It hasn’t been looking good for the 2013 1st round pick as he’s continued to make a legitimate impact on the Montreal Canadiens. After a seven-game stint in the NHL, the team sent McCarron back to the Laval Rocket in exchange for Byron Froese.

Related Story: McCarron and Froese Swap Places

What’s disappointing is this may be the last time we see McCarron up with the Montreal Canadiens, especially if Froese makes the most of his opportunity. Another year in the AHL can’t hurt, but it starts to make you think whether McCarron will turn a corner and become a full-time NHLer.

We took to social media and put a quarter in the Habs fan base for this week’s Twitter Poll Thursday.

Poll Results

It’s not surprising to see the overwhelming pessimism from those who voted. Fans have been very critical of McCarron’s development and in an organization who isn’t too deep in NHL-ready center prospects, you’d like to think that he would grab a spot by the horns and make it his.

There were definite signs of it. If you follow the Montreal Canadiens Twitter account, you probably saw a bunch of videos of McCarron in the gym with Torrey Mitchell preparing for the season. Despite his size, strength was still an underlying for the former 1st round pick. Not only that but his skating needed improvement as well, in particular, his foot speed.

We didn’t get to see the benefits of his training until the Laval season started as he was pretty disappointing in the preseason.

McCarron was off to a decent start in the AHL with two goals and two assists but more importantly looked more engaged and reliable. Sadly he only brought that to the Habs in the first couple of games with the Habs this season and then started to fizzle out.

The fans have slowly started to add the ‘bust,’ tag to his name, but it may still be too early for that. McCarron may be a victim of his draft position, and although he’s not developing as quickly as we’d like, he’s’ going to need more time. The frustration of being sent down again may be the push he needs.

There will be ample opportunity next season to make the Montreal Canadiens next season with Tomas Plekanec most likely leaving as a UFA. McCarron can be the team’s third or fourth line center then, but he needs to show Claude Julien and the rest of management that he can handle the 82-game grind.

However, we have to keep in that this is a contract year for McCarron. Whether it’s with Laval or the Habs, he has to do whatever he can to prove that he’s worth keeping around.

Any organization takes a lot of stock in who they select in the first round. It’ll be disappointing if McCarron isn’t able to be anything more than an AHL player. The ball is in his court now. Welcome to adversity.

Next: Injury Report

Do you think McCarron can be a full-time NHLer one day? What does he need to do to get to that level? Let us know in the comments below.