{"id":686346,"date":"2026-06-05T17:08:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T17:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/686346\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T17:08:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T17:08:24","slug":"connor-mcmichael-2025-26-season-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/686346\/","title":{"rendered":"Connor McMichael: 2025-26 season review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Connor McMichael<\/a> couldn\u2019t repeat his breakthrough 2024-25 season, and it\u2019s not a surprise why.<\/p>\n

By the Numbers<\/p>\n

On-ice percentages<\/p>\n

Isolated Impact \u00a0by HockeyViz<\/p>\n

\"HockeyViz
About this visualization: \u00a0This image by \u00a0Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com<\/a> \u00a0shows how the player has impacted play when on the ice. At the top of the image is the team\u2019s offense (even strength at left, power play at right) and at bottom is the team\u2019s defense (with penalty kill at bottom right). In each case, red\/orange blobs mean teams shoot for more from that location on the ice, and blue\/purple means less. In general, a good player should have red\/orange blobs near the opponent\u2019s net at top, and blue\/purple blobs near their own team\u2019s net at bottom. The distributions in middle show how the player compares to league average at individual finishing, setting up teammates to score, and taking and drawing penalties. The number at center is Synthetic Goals: a catch-all number for the player\u2019s impact.<\/p>\n

Player Card \u00a0by Evolving Hockey<\/p>\n

\"Evolving
About this player card: \u00a0This card from Josh and Luke of \u00a0Evolving Hockey<\/a> \u00a0compares the player to league averages based on their impact on on-ice statistics. GAR means \u201cgoals above replacement,\u201d where \u201creplacement\u201d means an average player called up from the AHL. xGAR is the same figure but assuming league-average goaltending. The numbers at top are the player\u2019s percentile ranks overall and then for offense and defense alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Player Overview \u00a0by NHL Edge<\/p>\n

\"NHL
About this visualization: \u00a0The NHL\u2019s advanced statistics program, Edge<\/a>, tracks player and puck movement. The player\u2019s shot speed, skating speed, and skating distance are at top along with percentile rank. At bottom left is a shot location map, and at bottom right is zone time per zone.<\/p>\n

Gratuitous Generative Art by Peter<\/p>\n

Using p5.js, the player\u2019s name is a seed that randomizes a bunch of values in an animated canvas with glitchy effects that should be gradual enough not to mess with people with sensory issues. Not AI. Not all that different from Logo, which I learned in like 1992.<\/p>\n

Peter\u2019s Take<\/p>\n

58<\/p>\n

Percentile among forwards<\/p>\n

24<\/a>Connor McMichaelForwardF<\/p>\n

Age 25 \u00b7 6\u20190\u2033 \u00b7 180 lbs \u00b7 \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 \u00b7 \u2651\ufe0f<\/p>\n

2025-26 stats<\/p>\n

Last season, in 2024-25, Connor McMichael skated 145 minutes with PLD and Protas. They outscored opponents 12-2 in that time. Domination.<\/p>\n

They played less than three minutes together in 2025-26, and you can see it reflected in McMichael\u2019s stats. His goal total dropped from 26 to 14, and his on-ice shot-attempt percentage dropped from 52.3 to 45.9 percent.<\/p>\n

To CMCM\u2019s great credit, he actually ticked up in assists \u2013 from 31 to 32.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a player we\u2019ll talk about when we get to the S part of the alphabet around whom there is suspicion he\u2019s overly dependent on teammates to look good. Connor McMichael is more deserving of that criticism. His breakthrough season depended on a cushy spot on the second line. Playing different responsibilities \u2013 sometimes 2C, sometimes 3C, quite often on the wing \u2013 McMichael couldn\u2019t get near his old productivity. And his lines in particular struggled most with advancing through the neutral zone on transition to attack.<\/p>\n

So I\u2019m at a loss, or at least I\u2019m pretending to be out of charity. McMichael isn\u2019t the primary puck-mover we hoped he would be. He\u2019s even weaker without the puck. But his skill at making plays is well-proven by now. So how should the Caps use him?<\/p>\n

They need to figure that out as they enter contract negotiations with the restricted free agent.<\/p>\n

CMCM on RMNB<\/p>\n

Aliaksei Protas on Connor McMichael\u2019s brilliant set up on his goal: \u2018Oh god, my mom would score from that\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Connor McMichael completes Capitals comeback, scores overtime game-winner against Canadiens<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Your Turn<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Connor McMichael\u2019s true and fated position?<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcca<\/p>\n

This story would not be possible without<\/p>\n

Please consider joining us in supporting them.<\/p>\n

Read More Player Reviews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Connor McMichael couldn\u2019t repeat his breakthrough 2024-25 season, and it\u2019s not a surprise why. By the Numbers On-ice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":686347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-686346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}