McCarron is Making an Impact in Career Year with Predators

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.  

“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.”