Montreal Canadiens: Michael McCarron is in a tough spot

The 2018/19 season was meant to be a key one for Michael McCarron within the Montreal Canadiens system, and instead of rising, he’s treading water.

We don’t talk about Michael McCarron much anymore. He used to be a big topic as he continued his journey, battle, or fight to become an everyday NHLer and play for the Montreal Canadiens long-term. However, the last time McCarron was a keyword was at the tail end of the offseason when he accepted his one-year qualifying offer to play.

If there was ever a year where McCarron needed to step up and prove himself, it was this one. The 2018/19 season is his TSN Turning Point. However, it has gone well in some areas and not so well in others.

McCarron is fifth on the Laval Rocket with seven goals (four of which came on the powerplay) and 14 assists in 32 games. He’s currently on a 0.66 point-per-game pace which matches his totals from the 2015/16 season when he finished with 17 goals and 21 assists.

The downside of it all is his role and where he’s seen on the team. The Rocket may not be one of the better teams in the league this season, but they have a number of players who have stepped up and given the organization something to talk about. Jake Evans comes to mind, and it transitions over to Lukas Vejdemo who are both centers. The former has run into injury problems, but he’s shown a lot early on to warrant excitement for the future.

And now we go to downside number two. McCarron hasn’t played a game since December 29th which was on the tail end of a stretch of four points in three games. The true details of the injury have yet to be revealed. All we know is that it’s an upper-body injury.

Head coach Joël Bouchard provided a quick update that McCarron’s status will be revealed soon. There was concern earlier that the 23-year-old would be done for the season but his agent Wade Arnott shut those worries down saying they believe he will play again.

Hopefully he does, but it appears the writing is already on the wall as far as where he stands in the eyes of the Montreal Canadiens. There’s still the chance McCarron returns and has a stellar second-half playing well enough to be a fourth-line player Claude Julien can look to if Kenny Agostino isn’t signed.

Time will only tell, but McCarron doesn’t have a lot of it left.