Penguins A to Z: Jared McCann is still useful, but could be much better

As the NHL prepares for a new season scheduled to start in mid-January, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 48 individuals under NHL contract with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to high-profile trade acquisition Jason Zucker.

Jared McCann

Position: Center

Shoots: Left

Age: 24

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 185 pounds

2019-20 NHL statistics: 66 games, 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists)

Contract: First year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $2.94 million. Pending restricted free agent in 2022.

Acquired: Trade, Feb. 1, 2019

Last season: Jared McCann didn’t hesitate.

He immediately shook his head from side to side and said, “No. No. Not at all.”

The day after American Thanksgiving in 2019, McCann was asked if he had his eyes on hitting that somewhat mythical 20-goal barrier for the first time in his career.

After all, through the first 22 games of the 2019-20 campaign, he already had nine goals.

His reluctance to even entertain the notion of being a 20-goal scorer turned out to be foreboding.

In his final 44 games of the season, McCann only had five goals as he struggled to find the back of the net, despite ample time in a top-six role in five-on-five as well as occasional deployment on the top power-play unit.

While McCann’s offense dried up following his solid start, he was a very useful player for a team besieged by injuries and other absences throughout the campaign. Appearing in 66 of a possible 69 games during the regular season, McCann was used as a left winger or center on the top three lines.

And in addition to his 1:41 of average power-play time per game, he even got the occasional shift on the penalty kill as well, logging 30 seconds of short-handed ice time per contest last season. And while he wasn’t particularly strong in the faceoff circle with a winning percentage of only 46.4%, McCann did take the fourth-most draws on the team at 571.

For a brief stretch in March, the Penguins were able to ideally utilize McCann on the left wing of a third line that involved Nick Bjugstad at center and Patric Hornqvist on the right wing, but Bjugstad’s various maladies forced McCann to inhabit the center role by the time the 2019-20 season was halted March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

By the time the NHL’s postseason opened in August, there were immense expectations on McCann to serve as the third line center with Hornqvist and Patrick Marleau as his wingers. But that trio was so unremarkable, McCann actually was a healthy scratch for Game 3 of a preliminary round series against the Canadiens.

A restricted free agent this offseason, McCann re-signed with the club Sept. 18, receiving a tidy raise from his previous salary cap hit of $1.25 million.

The future: The Penguins appear set to use McCann as the third line left wing once again. General manager Jim Rutherford even went so far to suggest he’ll skate with the likes of Mark Jankowski at center and Evan Rodrigues at right wing.

But considering how condensed the 2020-21 schedule will be, the best-laid plans of Penguins management could go sideways in a hurry with a handful of medical-related absences.

That’s to say, the durable McCann will probably be asked to fill a variety of roles once again.

But regardless of where he’s used, it’s fair to expect a greater level of consistency from a player talented enough to be the 24th overall pick of the 2014 draft.

Long-term, his status is curious. With the NHL’s expansion draft looming this summer, McCann could go unprotected as the Penguins will have obligations to protect players with no-movement clauses as well as others who simply offer more to the franchise. Still fairly young and still under contract control when his current deal expires, McCann could be attractive to the Seattle Kraken.

McCann will once again be useful to the Penguins this season. He could also be much better.

Follow the Penguins all season long.