Next up on our player previews for the 2025-26 NHL season is none other than Big Sexy himself. Michael McCarron was a core piece to the Predators bottom six forward core and a top centerman for the club.
Michael McCarron's Stats Last Season
Nashville Predators: 74 games, 5 goals, 9 assists
WC Team USA: 10 games, 1 goal, 1 assist
McCarron Will Continue to Put the Smash in Smashville
As a power forward, your goal is to push the puck far into the zone while also providing a ton of physicality. If you watched even just one game last year, you'd know that McCarron plays it well. He racked up an 149 hits, just over two hits per game.
He recorded the 5th most penalty minutes in the league with 82, 50 of which came from his 10 fights throughout the course of the year. Oh yeah, did I mention that he is also a fighter? At 6'6", 232 lbs., almost nothing can get past him. When he drops the gloves, fans already know who'll win and it's obviously Mike that takes the cake.
In terms of his offensive production, we saw a dip in his numbers. Two seasons ago, he scored 12 goals and notched 10 assists—8 more than last year. Sure, he was given 200 more minutes on the ice last year but you have you have to remember that almost every player saw a drop in point production in Nashville.
One thing that McCarron is improving on is his two-way game. Per MoneyPuck, he's started his shift in the defensive zone 21.2% of the time which is a near 10% increase from previous years. Another nice stat to see is the percentage of shifts started on the fly. They decreased by 4% (63.7% to 56.9%) which means that his lines are more trustworthy starting off rather than needed to be thrown out there when the big guns are tired.
This is largely in part to McCarron's consistent faceoff taking abilities. He posted a 54.4 faceoff win percentage which was the second best on the roster, just behind the Ryan O'Reilly with 55.7%. Again, his height gives him an advantage as he is able to reach the puck quicker due to his large stick.
Outside of the rink, he is a core piece to the locker room. Even when he isn't under the arena lighting, he still remains bright as ever. Through countless interviews and behind the scenes footage, we learned that sometimes the most fearsome fella isn't always that scary.
McCarron brings energy and vibes to his squad by pumping everyone up before games in the tunnel. He was nominated for the Bill Masterton Trophy not too long ago after displaying waves of perseverance after entering the NHL Player Assistance program and quickly pushing it behind. McCarron is the type of guy every team needs, especially one stuck in the trenches like Nashville.
Where Does McCarron Slot in the Lineup Next Season?
Last year, McCarron typically found himself sheltering the bottom six, mainly the 4th line. I still think that he will be the Preds' bottom-line center though. However, I do see him in a more enhanced role on Nashville's special teams.
Thanks to his improvements on both ends of the ice, I see McCarron getting more penalty kill time and potentially getting a spot in the power play if things don't work out for the team offensively.
Realistically, McCarron is at the point where his linemates and current role prevent him from getting anything higher than 15 minutes a night. He isn't an elite scorer like Filip Forsberg or Jonathan Marchessault and he isn't young like Fedor Svechkov—someone looking for more minutes. As a result, his role stays the same for me 5v5.
He is in the final year of his 2-year, $18M contract that was signed last year. He is definitely worthy of an extension soon.