Is it October yet?
Unfortunately, no, but we're here to help pass the time. From Aug. 8 to Sept. 1, The Hockey News Nashville Predators will be counting down 24 players in 24 days, profiling every current or potentially rostered player.
Today's player profile is forward Michael McCarron.
24 Nashville Predators in 24 days series
As an NHL prospect
Originally from Gross Point, Michigan, McCarron started attracting attention during the 2012-13 season when he played for the United States National Team Development Program.
In 59 games with the under-18 squad, McCarron scored 37 points and logged 182 penalty minutes. What really caught NHL teams' attention is McCarron's build for his age. At 18, he was 6-feet-5-inches and 228 pounds.
His draft stock rose as he was selected 25th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2013 draft.
McCarron spent the next two seasons in the OHL with the London Knights and Oshawa Generals, totaling 102 points and 248 penalty minutes in 122 games. He also helped the Generals win an OHL Championship and a Memorial Cup Championship in 2015, scoring 18 points in 21 playoff gams.
Professional career
From 2015 to 2020, McCarron split time between the Canadiens and their AHL affiliate, which was the St. John's IceCaps and later became the Laval Rocket.
He played 69 games with the Canadiens, totaling eight points and 110 penalty minutes. With St. John's and Laval, he played 205 games, scoring 116 points and logging 374 penalty minutes.
McCarron's best season in the Canadiens system came during his rookie year, 2015-16, where he scored 38 points in 58 games and was a 2016 AHL All-Star.
In 2020, McCarron was traded to the Predators for forward Laurent Dauphin and spent the rest of the season in Milwaukee. He scored 13 points in 27 games in his first season as an Admiral.
He debuted with the Predators the following season, playing in six games and recording 16 penalty minutes.
The 2021-22 season, McCarron split time between Milwaukee and Nashville again. He played 14 games with the Admirals, scoring six points and logging 15 penalty minutes. With the Predators, he played 51 games, scored 14 points and had 70 penalty minutes.
After splitting time between both squads during the 2022-23 season, McCarron became a full-time member of the Predators roster to start the 2023-24 season.
In these past two seasons, McCarron has played in 144 games, scored 36 points and logged 202 penalty minutes. He also made his debut at the IIHF World Championship in May, winning a Gold Medal with the United States. McCarron had two points in 10 games.
He is currently in the second year of a 2-year, $1.8 million contract.
What role will he play this season?
In his time with the Predators, McCarron's scoring has fluctuated, and his penalty minutes have skyrocketed. It's hard not to look at him and think this is another case of the Predators wanting a big player solely for their height.
As a prospect, he showed a ton of potential as a big forward who could score and be physical. Those numbers stayed consistent throughout juniors and were still strong through his first pro season, but have since declined.
This past season, he had 14 points in 72 games and surpassed 100 penalty minutes for a second straight year. McCarron was one of nine players to record over 100 penalty minutes this year and had the lowest plus/minus among that group.
What comes out of those stats? McCarron is a player who has a negative impact on the ice with a low plus/minus and is constantly in the box. The Predators need more scoring, and in McCarron's case, they just need positive output from him, period.
With Brady Martin possibly being thrown into the mix as a fourth/third line center, McCarron could get a push for his spot down the middle. If another player can prove to be more offensively effective, McCarron could see his ice time decrease.