In a season that has seen a number of unlikely heroes emerge for the Nashville Predators, Michael McCarron has been chief among them.
The 28-year-old, who skated in his 200th career NHL game earlier this month, has set a new career high in goals (9) and added eight assists for 17 points in 49 games this season.
The 6-foot-6, 232-pound center is also averaging a career-high 12:07 of ice time and sits third among Predators forwards in blocked shots (34), fourth in faceoff percentage (49.1 percent), and sixth in hits (100). He has also recorded two multi-point games in 2023-24, including the third two-goal performance of his NHL career on Nov. 28 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Indeed, it’s been quite a year for the man they call “Big Sexy.”
McCarron’s Career Journey
McCarron may be a former first-round draft pick, but his NHL tenure has not been without its challenges. Selected 25th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2013, he was traded to Nashville in 2020. McCarron’s 2021-22 season with the Predators would be his best statistical season to date, establishing career highs in games played (51), goals (7), assists (7) and points (14) and winning 54.4 percent of his faceoffs.
The following season, however, would be a personally and professionally challenging one. Following a bumpy start to the season in which he recorded one goal and one assist in 15 games, McCarron entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in December 2022. After being reinstated the following month, he spent a brief stint with the American Hockey League’s Milwaukee Admirals before rejoining the Predators for the final stretch of the season.
McCarron, who was set to become a free agent following the conclusion of the 2022-23 season, signed a one-year, $775,000 deal to remain in Nashville last April. A regular healthy scratch during the first half of the 2023-24 campaign, he has finally found his footing and is on pace for another career year.
“You’re never comfortable, obviously,” McCarron said. “I know I can always still come out [of the lineup]. But I’m just grabbing the chances that I’m given and being able to run with it. I’m ready every day, and maybe I wasn’t in the past. It’s good to have a coach believe in you and good to have a team that’s behind you.”
McCarron’s Contract Extension
McCarron has been a key contributor during Nashville’s current winning streak, recording four points (two goals, two assists) in six games since signing a two-year, $1.8 million contract extension with the Predators on Feb. 16. The timing could be purely coincidental. But he acknowledges that there may indeed be a correlation between the end of his contract negotiations and the start of his recent hot streak.
Related: Key Takeaways from Predators’ 5-0 Road Trip
“We were talking for a while, and I kind of started to get in my head a little bit,” he said. “I don’t think I was playing my best hockey for a stretch of eight games there, so maybe that had something to do with it. Then as soon as I signed, it might just be a coincidence that I started to get hot, but I think it definitely helps to have a little bit of comfort just in the back of your head.”
The aforementioned six-game win streak has resulted in a level of consistency in the Predators’ line combinations that had not yet been seen this season under first-year head coach Andrew Brunette. For McCarron, this means six straight games centering Nashville’s fourth line between Cole Smith and Kiefer Sherwood, and he’s enjoying the stability.
“That’s huge,” McCarron said. “It’s the life of a fourth liner, right? You’re used to having your lines change quite often, but when you’re winning, things do seem to stay the same. So I think we found some really good chemistry between us three. We’re working hard without the puck; we’re working hard with the puck. It definitely helps when you play game after game with the same trio. So, credit to our team for winning to keep things the same on the fourth line; it’s awesome.”
The Predators’ ‘Identity Line’
McCarron, Smith and Sherwood, usually known as more of a highly physical checking line, have combined for 11 points (five goals, six assists) over the last six games. They each recorded one game-winning goal apiece to help the Predators go undefeated on their recent five-game road trip: Smith on Feb. 20 at the Vegas Golden Knights, Sherwood on Feb. 24 at San Jose and McCarron on Feb. 25 at Anaheim. McCarron’s tally in Anaheim was his first game-winner of the season, establishing a new career high in goals with eight.
“We’re playing hard,” McCarron said. “We’re playing really fast without the puck, which puts teams in an uncomfortable situation, and I think that helps us create turnovers and then play with the puck.”
The trio embodies Brunette’s offensive system, which is based on aggressively taking away space, turning opposing attacks into counterattacks and advancing the puck as quickly and frequently as possible.
“I think they’ve set the tone through this whole stretch,” Brunette said. “What they’ve brought every night and continue to bring is just tenacious, relentless and every puck matters, and they’ve kind of tugged everybody into the fight, and they’ve been the driving force here through these games.”
When asked about the driving force behind his recent success, McCarron is quick to give much of the credit to his like-minded linemates.
“I’m playing with two really good players and really fast players who are able to create a lot of turnovers and spend a lot of time in the O-zone cycling pucks, hunting pucks and creating turnovers,” McCarron said. “And when you work hard, you get rewarded. We’re all kind of hot right now on our line, and if we continue to work like that, creating turnovers and hounding the puck, we’re hard to play against as a line.”
McCarron’s Value to the Predators
He may not have the tenure or experience of many of his teammates, but McCarron has emerged as a key member of what Brunette calls the team’s “secondary leadership.” Even when he doesn’t find the scoresheet, McCarron’s strong work ethic, fearlessness and fierce defense of his teammates make him an invaluable asset.
McCarron and his linemates have not only been driving the Predators’ offense over this recent stretch of games; they have been driving the team’s identity with their relentlessness and dedication to their craft – and to each other.
Related: Predators, Cole Smith Mutually Benefit from Contract Extension
“I think we’ve been able to build [our identity] just by playing the way we play – hard, heavy, fast,” McCarron said. “[Smith and Sherwood] are really fast. We just play the right way. We play the system to a T. [The top-six forwards] can rely a lot on their skill, whereas we can’t; so we have to work extra hard to play the right way and lead by example, and I think that’s what we’re doing.”