AHL Point Leader for 2022-23, Michael Carcone Has Broken Out with the Arizona Coyotes with 14 Goals and an NHL-leading Shot Percentage

Michael Carcone is here to stay.

The 27-year-old Ajax, Ontario native, who put up a solid 89-point campaign with Drummondville of the QMJHL in his final year of junior, had bounced around the American Hockey League for six seasons before making his NHL debut in 2021-22 with Arizona.

If there was any doubt about Carcone's status as an NHL-ready player, the move to the show should now be permanent. 

Through 26 games with the Coyotes this season Carcone has put up 17 points and a fantastic 14 goals, including a short-handed tally in last night's lopsided loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

Despite only banking an average of 11 minutes of ice time per game, Carcone leads the National Hockey League with an outstanding 35.9 shot percentage on 39 shots, with Vancouver's Nils Hoglander (26.5 shot% through 26 GP) and Florida's Sam Reinhart (25.8 shot% through 27 GP) in a distant second and third. 

Carcone has seemingly always had an aptitude for scoring that carried on from junior to pro. Following up an outstanding 47-point season in the Q, Carcone struggled to acclimatize to AHL hockey in Utica in his first season (five goals, 13 points in 61 games), before nailing the 15-goal mark in his second season with the Comets. 

He'd hit 27 points and 14 goals in 42 games with the Marlies in 2018-19 (and another six goals and 17 points that same season through 20 games with Utica), before landing with the Belleville Senators in 2019-20, netting 13 goals and 27 points in 59 games.

It's been with the Coyotes' system that Carcone has blossomed. In his first season with Tucson, he hit 15 goals and 25 points in 35 games, upending the totals the next season (2021-22) with 24 goals and 41 points in just 48 games. That same year Carcone made his long-awaited NHL debut, hitting four goals and six points in 21 games in Arizona. 

The 2022-23 season proved to be a breakout for the then-26-year-old. Carcone put up three points in nine games when called upon for the Coyotes, but was an absolute titan in Tucson. Carcone led the AHL in points in 2022-23 with 85 in just 65 games, hitting a pro-high of 31 goals, with another four points in three playoff games. 

Cementing himself as a reliable jack-of-all-trades for the rebuilding Coyotes, and with an obvious ability to put the puck in the net at a high frequency when given the opportunity, Michael Carcone is one of the breakout NHL stories of the year.