Montreal Canadiens: Michael McCarron’s future role with the team
By Omar L
According to Laval Rocket head coach Sylvain Lefebvre, Michael McCarron is being groomed for a specific role with the Montreal Canadiens.
First round picks are areas of the draft organizations always hope to hit on. Alex Galchenyuk has been the only Montreal Canadiens first rounder since 2012 to establish a spot on the roster. However, we have to take into consideration that he was top five pick that year. There’s also Mikhail Sergachev, but we’re not going to go there anymore.
Michael McCarron has been a prospect fans have been patiently waiting for. When he was initially drafted by the Habs, analysts noted his skating and offensive game as areas he would need to improve on to be an effective player in the NHL.
He’s made adjustments to his skating, but the scoring hasn’t gotten up to parr. In his first AHL season with the St. Johns Ice Caps, McCarron had 17 goals and 21 assists in 58 games. That’s not a bad total for a debut year in the pros. McCarron also played 20 games with the Habs that season putting up a goal and assist.
Unfortunately, his point totals have continued to fall since then with 19 points in 32 games the season after and 14 points in 28 games this year. It’s safe to say that offence won’t ever be his signature when/if McCarron becomes an everyday NHLer.
That’s why it’s not surprising to hear from Sylvain Lefebvre, the Laval Rocket head coach, that McCarron is being groomed to become a defensive forechecking type player with the Habs.
Is it frustrating to get a player like that in the first round? Perhaps. The one thing the Habs lack forward-wise is size and McCarron’s six-foot-six and 230-pound frame will help. The problem is that even when playing with the Habs, the 22-year-old has looked invisible, which is pretty ironic when you think about it.
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He didn’t do much in the preseason to prove to Claude Julien and the coaching staff that he deserved to make the team out of camp despite all the work he appeared to have done over the summer.
Conditioning still looked to be an issue with him. Additionally, in the latter half of his call-up back in November, McCarron rarely did anything to show that he was on the ice with the other players.
You take that in combination with Eric Engels’ latest tweet on the 2013 first round pick, and it’s hard to stay positive.
Haven't had much to say on the subject, but always felt that Trevor Timmins has done really well outside the 1st round and seemingly been influenced when it came to certain picks in the 1st round. Don't know for sure, but don't think McCarron was his guy. I know Leblanc wasn't. https://t.co/Zb5ZbfPlCl
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) January 11, 2018
After being outmuscled by the Ottawa Senators in the 2013 playoffs, it looked like the organization wanted to add more size. Similar to what Engles said in his tweet, no one knows who Trevor Timmins wanted in the first round that year. Shea Theodore was still on the board, but again we can’t be sure.
Nevertheless, I think that the Habs will continue to work with McCarron and most likely give him a one or two-year bridge deal at the end of the season. Even though he doesn’t have that much offensive skill, there is a fit for him on this team in the future.
The Habs aren’t in a position to give up on prospects, and if the plan for McCarron works, he could be a possible replacement for Tomas Plekanec, assuming this is his final year in a Montreal Canadiens uniform.
Do you think McCarron can become what the organization wants him to become? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.