Who cares what Jared McCann becomes?
The Vancouver Canucks lost a former first-round selection who struggled as a center having scored just 18 points in 69 games this season. But don’t let those numbers define how valuable an asset McCann really is. Don’t let the fact that he can’t play center be an excuse to discount McCann.
McCann can still play a middle-six wing role as a scorer who can also get under the other team’s skin with a Kesler-like edge in his game. His only fault as a player was his slight frame, but it seems that McCann has beefed up quite a bit already to 194 pounds.
McCann is bound to get better. But not in a Canuck uniform. Can’t blame Benning for how good his draft pick gets.
With the abundance of centermen in the system, the Canucks were dealing McCann from a point of surplus. McCann had no shot of staying in Vancouver as a center, and with the plethora of bottom-six forwards that Jim Benning had acquired, the likes of Emerson Etem and Markus Granlund were already filling out the lineup quick.
If you think McCann got it tough, how about Brendan Gaunce? He is the only surviving member of the Gillis regime. He didn’t get his NHL chance until late in the season, only to go back down to the AHL and get shut out by the Albany Devils.
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With a young guy like Gaunce looking to round out that bottom line for the Canucks with all the right “Benning characteristics” — the grit, the two-way play, and so on, McCann was not going to get a shot in Vancouver.
Again, think back to the Boston-Calgary trade for Hamilton. Do you think McCann was worth a mid-first round pick? I personally was ready to accept an early second pick for the man.
Now was the time to trade McCann, before he lost all value in being demoted down to the AHL and getting considered a failed project that got rushed into the NHL.
All being said, this should give McCann a lot more breathing room to grow and flourish as a player. Best of wishes to Jared.
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