What can Michael McCarron do in the AHL and will he ever be back?

The Montreal Canadiens will have Michael McCarron start the year with the Laval Rocket, and he’ll have to play his best if he wants another crack in the NHL.

It’s incredible how a 24-year-old first-round pick can still be looked at as a project six years after they were drafted, but that’s where the Montreal Canadiens are with Michael McCarron.

There was a time fans hoped McCarron could be a top-nine gritty option who could chip in offensively and use his size on the forecheck to maintain pressure in the enemy zone. But his skating was a constant issue, and as the years went on, it held him back. Another thing that didn’t help was the fact that McCarron didn’t know what kind of player he wanted to be.

He would produce in the AHL but become a fourth-line goon when he was called up to play with the Montreal Canadiens. Eventually, the organization chose to make McCarron an enforcer, which saw his fighting rates increase in both leagues. Now we’re back to square one.

McCarron has cleared waivers again and will start the season in the minors with the Laval Rocket, a team that has a lot more skill on its roster than in the past. So which McCarron will we see? The big-bodied offensive option or the enforcing goon?

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Head coach Joël Bouchard looks as he’s willing to give McCarron a clean slate. The Laval Rocket could have a pretty heavy top-nine down the middle with both McCarron and Ryan Poehling slotted in. Then when you add Jake Evans into the mix, the Rocket should have a number of options to generate.

McCarron’s skating has improved given his work with Kathy McLwain, but I believe he needs to go back to those times of using his size and improving his skill to generate.

The Michigan native put up 17 goals and 21 assists for 38 points in 48 games in his debut AHL season with the St. Johns Ice Caps. McCarron split the next season, seeing 31 games with the Montreal Canadiens and 32 games with the Ice Caps, where he scored seven goals and 19 points. Prospect juggling is never the answer, and you can argue it had a negative impact on his mentality and confidence.

The next two years were spent mostly with the Rocket, but the most recent stands out the most. His 21 points in 32 games were his highest-scoring rate since that first season in St. Johns. This is where McCarron needs to be, and that is where he will be the most effective.

We can’t ignore his size, and of course, it helps to take off the gloves now and again to protect a teammate, but his production is what is going to make him stand out. There will be a lot of skilled forwards for McCarron to play with and keep in mind how successful he was with Charles Hudon and Nikita Scherbak back in the day.

However, the most important question for Michael McCarron is whether he sees a game with the Montreal Canadiens this season or not? Considering Poehling is next in line, probably not. At the same time, McCarron has to prove that his skating is fast enough to keep up amongst the likes of Jordan Weal and Paul Byron.

What McCarron needs to focus on are health and performance. Injuries have taken massive chunks out of his last two seasons and being in the lineup is the only way for him to turn heads.

It’s going to be a long season for McCarron considering many are surprised he’s still with the organization. This is his last chance. Let’s see what he does with it.