ST. PAUL, Minn. \u2014 Oh, what a time to be Michael McCarron.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old spent years fighting just to stay in the NHL, accepting league-minimum deals and bouncing from the Montreal Canadiens to the Nashville Predators as he carved out a niche as a hard-nosed, defensive-minded, faceoff-winning center who was coveted by many teams at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n
He found a strong fit with the Minnesota Wild, and now, at the exact moment most teams, including the Wild, are desperate for centers \u2014 with virtually none available in free agency \u2014 McCarron has a chance to strike it rich.<\/p>\n
But here comes the quandary.<\/p>\n
While the Wild have cap space and badly want to re-sign him, McCarron almost certainly could make more on the open market since it just takes one team to throw a boatload of cash and term his way.<\/p>\n
So McCarron will have to decide in the upcoming weeks whether he prioritizes a good hockey fit on a team that looks like it\u2019s a contender or wants to wait until July 1 to see what he can get in terms of long-term security and money.<\/p>\n
Bill Guerin hopes he can provide McCarron with plenty of reasons to stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a ton of interest in bringing Mac back,\u201d the Wild president of hockey operations and general manager said. \u201cWe thought he was a really good fit. He delivered on everything that we knew about and was told about him. \u2026 I think everybody was really happy. I know everybody was really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the NHL for parts of nine seasons, McCarron has never earned more than $900,000 in a season. He talked candidly about what he\u2019s weighing in his decision at his end-of-year exit interview with reporters last Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, you have a GM and coach (John Hynes) who wanted me to come in here and help the team, and when someone gives up what they gave up to get me, I think it shows how much they wanted me,\u201d said McCarron, who was acquired for a second-round pick. \u201cSo (you want to) try to return the favor.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same token, I think I\u2019m at a point in my career where I haven\u2019t really taken that next step financially, or had quite the security, I\u2019d say. I guess that\u2019s what I\u2019m looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot to like about McCarron.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s 6-foot-6. He\u2019s a right-shot, which every team covets, especially Minnesota. He was one of the Wild\u2019s best penalty killers \u2014 on the ice for four goals in 20 regular-season games and five in 11 playoff games. And after winning 51.4 percent of his draws for Minnesota in the regular season, he won 54.5 percent in the playoffs.<\/p>\n
He also showed in the postseason that he\u2019s not just a fourth-line center. He can comfortably center the third line and was elevated to the second line in the final game. Scoring goals is certainly not his bread and butter, but he scored three in the regular season and two in the postseason.<\/p>\n
Would it be a difficult decision to turn down a Wild offer and test free agency?<\/p>\n
\u201cI prioritize winning,\u201d McCarron said. \u201cI haven\u2019t won anything. I\u2019ve won a World Championship and a Memorial Cup, but that was 15 years ago, and a men\u2019s World Championship \u2014 (that\u2019s) just a short little stint in your long career, where the success of my NHL career hasn\u2019t really been what I\u2019ve wanted. So, winning a Stanley Cup has always been my goal. Coming here, it was a great opportunity, too. It feels like if you got past Colorado, you\u2019d have a really great chance to do that. And obviously, we came up against the juggernaut. So those are things I definitely have to think about and weigh, and it\u2019s going to be some hard conversations with my family and figure out where that goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a problem every depth player dreams of. There will be a market if he decides to wait and test free agency, but he also knows he has it good in Minnesota, coached by Hynes, who previously coached him in Nashville and is a big reason the Wild were willing to spend a second-rounder on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe played solid, and obviously, he was good in the faceoff circle,\u201d Hynes said. \u201cHe brings a lot of emotion. Great details. Fit in well with the team. Was good on the penalty kill. I think when you look at even when we did get the injuries moving forward in Colorado, we moved him around on different guys. The thing that we liked a lot about Mac was he played with a lot of different guys, but his game never changed.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026 And that\u2019s the value that he brought. He was just a very consistent player playing to his strengths, regardless of the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
As much as there was a sticker shock for some when the Wild paid a second-rounder for him, there could be more if the Wild re-sign him or he signs with a new team.<\/p>\n
McCarron projects to be worth a market value of $1.1 million, on average, over the next four years, according to The Athletic\u2019s Dom Luszczyszyn\u2019s model. But with the dearth of free-agent centers available and how coveted McCarron was at the deadline, the reality is that McCarron\u2019s agent will be looking for much more.<\/p>\n
AFP Analytics<\/a> and Evolving-Hockey<\/a> both project a two-year deal in the $2 million range, whether he extends in Minnesota or signs elsewhere. And those projected numbers to re-sign with a Wild team desperate for centers seem light, especially in this rising-cap world. Some teams could be willing to invest even more \u2014 a longer-term deal with a four-year term could kick his cap hit up a notch, to the $3 million tier \u2014 according to Evolving-Hockey.<\/p>\n The Wild currently have $15 million of cap space available this offseason, with only eight forwards, five defensemen and two goalies signed, and decisions to make on other unrestricted free agents, including Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson, Vladimir Tarasenko, Nick Foligno and Zach Bogosian.<\/p>\n
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