McCARRON A BUST?
Prospect fights for NHL role
Five years after being selected by the Canadiens in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft, Mike McCarron continues to fight for a job in the NHL — literally.
McCarron dropped the gloves with defenceman Alexander Petrovic during the first period of Monday night’s 2-0 loss to the Florida Panthers. McCarron, who is 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, won the one-sided fight over the 6-foot4, 206-pound Petrovic.
“It’s not that I had to prove anything (to Canadiens management) … they know I can do it,” McCarron said about the fight after practice Tuesday in Brossard. “They’re in our division, they’re fighting for a playoff spot. I just went to the net and he asked me to go. I wasn’t going to say no.”
It was the 12th fight for McCarron in 61 career NHL games, according to hockeyfights.com, during which he has only two goals and five assists. The 23-year-old forward has only played 10 games with the Canadiens this season and has yet to register a point. He posted seven goals and 17 assists in 52 games with the AHL’s Laval Rocket, along with seven fights and 109 penalty minutes.
The Canadiens knew McCarron was a project when they drafted him 25th overall, he was only ranked 35th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, liking his size and realizing he had to work on his skating. Five years later, the American continues to be a project and can become a restricted free agent after this season.
At this point, a fresh start somewhere else would probably be good for McCarron.
When asked about his future Tuesday, McCarron said: “I’m not really thinking about that — at least yet. I’m restricted, so they pretty much have all the cards in their hands. So games like last night are really important for me. Nothing’s going to be handed to you.”
Another player who can become a restricted free agent after this season is Daniel Carr, who had 11 goals and eight assists in 20 games with the Laval Rocket before getting called up by the Canadiens. The 26-year-old has been a healthy scratch 17 times since then on a team that struggles to score, while posting four goals and 10 assists in the 30 games he has played. Carr was never drafted, signing with the Canadiens as a free agent after four seasons at Union College.
“We got 10 games left and hopefully 10 opportunities to show I can play here,” Carr said after Monday’s morning skate and before getting a team-high five shots against the Panthers. “I think that’s the big thing for me. For us as a team, we want to grow, but I think for me individually that’s the big thing is it’s 10 opportunities to show I can play in this league and that’s my focus.”
When asked about being scratched so often, Carr said: “It’s
For us as a team, we want to grow, but I think for me individually that’s the big thing is it’s 10 opportunities to show I can play in this league.
not fun … any time you show up at the rink and your name’s not in the lineup you’re not in a very good mood. But I think you got to kind of control what you can control. I think that’s the big thing and that’s the only way when you come back in you play well … I’ve found that. The times I get scratched and I kind of sit and pout for a while and feel sorry for myself, I come back and don’t play as well. But if you kind of go: All right, here’s where I’m at, here’s what I can control and here’s what I can do, that’s when you come back and play better.
“But it’s not fun when you’re scratched.”
Other Canadiens who can become restricted free agents this summer are forwards Phillip Danault, Jacob de la Rose and Logan Shaw, along with defenceman Rinat Valiev. Forward Ales Hemsky and goalie Antti Niemi can become unrestricted free agents.