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Forever associated with the Ryan Kesler trade, and likely the best remaining asset from the deal is our 3rd best prospect in the pool, Jared McCann. The Canucks received Anaheim’s 1st round pick in the trade, which Jim Benning then used on McCann. While there were some questions on this pick at the time, McCann delighted fans with his performance last year. Let’s dig in!

By the end of his draft year, McCann already spent a full season in the OHL, a difficult feat for a 16-year-old. After being drafted 4th overall in the 2012 OHL Priority Draft McCann, put up 44 points in his first 64 games and played at the World U17 Championships where he scored a goal and 2 assists in 5 games.

Back then, Future Considerations had already penciled him in as a top prospect citing:

McCann is a hard-working, two-way forward who displays strong agility and mobility. He’s effective at both ends of the ice and has the ability to produce strong numbers due to his hands, patience, shot and sense (August, 2013)

In his post-draft season, McCann’s production was relatively disappointing as he picked up just 62 points (27 goals and 35 assists) in 64 games. McCann also played in the Ivan Hlinka tournament where he scored 1 goal and 2 assists in 7 games.

With sub point-per-game production many fans, including myself, were disappointed at the other talent still left on the board. This is the exact view that Cam Charron wrote just over a year ago when McCann was initially drafted claiming the decision was a PR move to replace the lost Kesler.

This draft pick was seen in a better light after Rhys Jessop chatted with Leafs assistant GM (then GM of McCann’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) Kyle Dubas. A few months later, we declared McCann the Canucks’ #6 prospect in our summer 2014 rankings.

It was McCann’s 2014/2015 season that really saw his stock rise. Despite playing eight fewer games, he put up an additional seven goals and twelve assists, enough to put him fifteenth in OHL scoring.

This wasn’t overly surprising, as the Greyhounds were a stacked team last year and were one of the top 2 teams in nearly all stats, including their ability to generate and create offence. CHLStats.com estimates that McCann was the number one centre playing alongside Nick Ritchie – a thought backed up by his presence near the top of nearly every team scoring statistic.

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A few “in the know” people have mentioned to me that McCann’s character has been questioned within the OHL, particularly due to a “bad attitude” in the room. Concerns like these get blown out of proportion at times, especially when teenagers are the subject, but if true, this might not bode well for his future – the Canucks like to emphasize having an organization of “good people” just as much as they’d like to have good players to match.

The PCS data that we have shows some strong signals amongst the noise. His combination of average size, early entry into regular major junior minutes, and relative youth position him well above the curve in terms of his likeliness to become an NHL regular.

Todd Cordell had this to say:

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Strengths – Jared McCann is one of the best two-way forwards in this year’s draft class. He’s a very good skater who reaches top speed in a hurry, and is the definition of a 200-foot player. He’s strong on the back check, is always back to be an outlet for his defenseman and is excellent on the penalty kill. McCann has a high hockey IQ, understands his responsibilities on the ice and is always in position defensively. With the puck, he reads plays exceptionally well and has good vision with the puck. He regularly sets up his teammates using his vision and good playmaking ability. McCann possesses good puck handling skills and uses them create chances for himself or get a lane to utilize his high-end wrist shot, which is both powerful and accurate. He’s relentless in pursuit of the puck, and when it’s on his stick good things tend to happen.



Weaknesses – McCann doesn’t have any glaring weaknesses in his game. He’s not an elite offensive player, so he won’t put up huge numbers at the NHL level, and he needs to put on some weight, but there isn’t much that should prevent him from being an effective NHL player.



Career Projection – McCann projects to be a possession driving two-way forward who can produce some offense and play in all aspects of the game.

Friend of the blog, Corey Pronman stated:

Jared McCann had a very productive season from a statistical standpoint. His skill isn’t really high-end, although he’ll show you flashes of dynamic creativity and he has a very good shot. McCann projects as a steady, middle-of-the-lineup player who chips in at both ends, being above average at a lot of things. However, he’s not someone who will take over a game.

Most likely, we should expect McCann to develop into a very solid defensive middle-6 player, with the lack of top-end offence being his weakness. It’s most likely that McCann will return to the OHL for his 4th season, unless he surprises at training camp. From there, he will almost definitely start the 2016/17 season with Utica in the AHL, where he’ll begin to carve his professional path.





