Montreal Canadiens Season Preview: Michael McCarron

The calendar has finally flipped one month closer to the Montreal Canadiens season opener in October. Through the month of August we will be breaking down and previewing what the 2019-20 season will look like for 31 players.

The Montreal Canadiens drafted Michael McCarron in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft. He was a hulking winger for the United States National Under-18 Program at the time. McCarron scored 16 goals and 37 points in 59 games for them that year and had a strong showing at the World Under 18 Championships for the Americans as well with five points in seven games.

After being drafted by the Canadiens, McCarron, who had previously committed to play NCAA Hockey in the States, left America and signed with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

His first season in the OHL was up and down as he worked on his skating stride and adapted to the longer schedule. The Grosse Pointe, Michigan native scored 14 goals and 34 points in 66 games with a stacked Knights squad that season before really breaking out in year two.

The 2014-15 season was a great one for McCarron. His skating was improved and he was able to use his 6’6″ frame to win puck battles and buy time in the offensive zone. He could get to the net and create havoc in front of the opposing team’s goal. The Knights has a top line of Max Domi, Mitch Marner and Christian Dvorak, and McCarron was moved to centre to be the driving force of the second line.

He had an amazing 22 goals and 41 points in his first 25 games for London that season. More amazingly, even with their star-studded roster, the Knights were sellers at the trade deadline and sent McCarron to the Oshawa Generals for a bundle of draft picks.

McCarron added 27 points in 31 games for the Generals, before scoring nine goals and 18 points in 21 playoff games. The Generals won the OHL Championship that season and headed to the Memorial Cup. McCarron had three points in four games as the Generals won the tournament, laying claim to being the best Junior team in Canada.

From there it was time to turn pro, and McCarron had three inconsistent seasons mostly in the American Hockey League during his entry-level contract. Last season, was the first time he did not get re-called to the Montreal Canadiens at all, but oddly it might have been his best showing yet.

It was hoped that McCarron, with his 6’6″ and 230 pound body and ability to score well over a point per game in the OHL, would have turned into a power forward in the NHL by now. However, at the age of 24 he has played 69 games with the Habs, and scored only two goals and eight points.

He was showing last season that he had learned what it takes to be successful at the pro level. He had 21 points in 32 games with a struggling Laval Rocket team, and more importantly was playing a tough, physical style without going over the line while chipping in offence as well.

Just as he was hitting his stride, McCarron suffered a season ending shoulder injury in December. He started the season slowly offensively, but had scored five goals and 15 points in his last 14 games before the injury.

A great 14 game stretch doesn’t prove he is ready for an NHL role, but his play in that time was encouraging. Had he been able to continue to play at that pace for a few more weeks, a call to the big leagues was definitely coming. It was only a few weeks later that the Habs traded for Dale Weise and gave him a shot at earning a fourth line role. A healthy McCarron would have been given the same chance.

 What’s his role next season?

McCarron will now head into camp fully healthy for the first time since he was a teenager. He was on TSN 690 radio earlier this week and said the shoulder that he finally had surgically repaired last winter has been bothering him since he injured it during his second training camp with the Habs in 2014.

If McCarron can continue to play like he did for the five weeks before being injured last season, there is a spot for him on the Canadiens fourth line. A huge, versatile forward who can contribute offence is a valuable commodity on any team – especially the Montreal Canadiens.

The Habs two most physical forwards were both traded within minutes of each other in June. Andrew Shaw was sent to the Chicago Blackhawks and Nicolas Deslauriers went to the Anaheim Ducks. The Habs got a handful of decent draft picks back for them, but lost a lot of physicality from an already small group of forwards.

Physicality and gritty play aren’t everything. I would much rather have Jordan Weal on the team than Deslauriers, but if McCarron can bring his physical play along with offensive awareness and an ability to at least cycle the puck down low and spend time in the offensive zone while putting pressure on the opponent’s defensemen, he would be a great fit for the bottom six.

Prediction for 2019-20

McCarron will definitely have a chance to win a job out of training camp. Being fully healthy and able to demonstrate his power forward abilities in the preseason will put him on a short list for the Habs fourth line. There is a lot of competition for those jobs though. Ryan Poehling, Jordan Weal, Nate Thompson, Nick Cousins, Matthew Peca, Dale Weise and Charles Hudon also will be fighting for a fourth line role.

Assuming the Canadiens keep two extra forwards like most teams do, that is eight players fighting for five roster spots, and only three actual lineup spots. If McCarron is going to make the team, he will have to prove the Habs are better off putting Weise, Peca and Hudon on waivers and trying to send them all to the minors.

Of course, there are always injuries throughout an NHL season as well. McCarron might head back to Laval to start next season, but I don’t think we have seen the last of him in a Montreal Canadiens jersey just yet. Otherwise, why would the Canadiens have re-signed him to another one-year deal?

Clearly the management team is still intrigued in what this guy can bring to the lineup. So am I. His package of size, skill and tenacity would make him an ideal fit for the bottom six if he can find some consistent offensive output. It doesn’t have to be a lot at the NHL level, just more than Peca, Cousins, Hudon and Thompson can bring.

I would expect another season where he splits time between the Rocket and Canadiens. He will be given the chance to show most of those games should be with the Habs. It will be an interesting training camp for McCarron, and with free agency on the horizon once again, he might be getting his last chance to show what he can do. Worrying about heading to the unemployment line is a motivating factor for anyone, let’s hope it results in a career year for McCarron.