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Dale Hunter was a thorn in Montreal’s side when he was playing as a rugged winger for the Quebec Nordiques, but he did the Canadiens a huge favour two seasons ago when he moved Michael McCarron to centre.

Down the road, McCarron could be the big centre the Canadians have been missing. Hunter, the owner, president and coach of the London Knights, played a key role in his development when the 6-foot-6, 227-pounder began playing junior hockey for the Knights in 2013.

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“I have to give Dale credit for moving him to the middle,” said Martin Lapointe, the Canadiens’ director of player development. “We drafted him as a right-winger, but Dale decided to move him to centre, we didn’t interfere. We try to help the junior teams, but they make their own decisions.”

And this has turned out to be a good one.

“He looks good at centre,” Lapointe said. “He’s good at faceoffs and he has a long reach.”

Lapointe said it’s too early to tell whether McCarron will play centre in the National Hockey League, but noted that it’s always good to have players who are versatile and capable of playing more than one position.