True goal-scorers can spot opportunities where other players may not.
Witness how Seattle Kraken winger Jared McCann opened the scoring against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. From the vicinity of the penalty box, seven minutes into the first period, he lulled Vancouver goaltender Spencer Martin into thinking he was going to dump the puck into the offensive zone and follow up on the forecheck.
Once Martin started to move to his left, McCann snapped the puck to the blocker side, connecting for his team-leading 16th goal of the year. Following up on 27 goals with the Kraken last season, the 26-year-old is currently on pace for his first 40-goal campaign.
For a player who didn’t hit double-digits in scoring until his fourth NHL season, what’s working so well now?
“It’s a mixture of things,” McCann said before Thursday’s game. “Here, obviously, my role has changed. And, I’m more of a confident player. A lot more opportunity, so I’ve just been trying to shoot the puck as much as I can.”
But don’t mistake McCann for a volume shooter. This season, David Pastrnak leads the league with 162 shots in 32 games. That’s more than five shots a game, well above his career average of about 3.5.
With all those attempts, Pastrnak is tied for fourth in the league with 22 goals. With a shooting percentage of 13.6 percent this season, he’s on pace to crack 50 goals for the first time in his career.
By comparison, McCann’s 16 goals have come on just 61 shots. His accuracy rate of 26.2 percent leads all NHL players with more than five goals this season.
McCann’s average accuracy over his eight NHL seasons is 11.6 percent. At first glance, it looks like he’s due for a big regression at some point. But while this year’s sharpshooting has been on another level, McCann’s shooting percentage has been trending generally upward over the last four seasons — a significant sample size.
Also, just two of McCann’s goals this season came with the man advantage. He gets more power-play time than any other Seattle forward, so if he starts connecting in odd-man situations as well — watch out.
McCann’s offensive instincts impressed the Vancouver Canucks when they selected him 24th overall in the 2014 draft.
“Jared plays in all three zones, and he has an excellent release on his shot,” then-GM Jim Benning said during the Canucks’ 2014 development camp. “The puck is on his stick and it’s gone. He can pick corners.”
But the Stratford, Ont. native lasted just one season in Vancouver, picking up nine goals and 18 assists in 69 games while playing in a relatively limited role. On May 25, 2016, Benning’s hunger for a physical right-shot defenseman led him to trade McCann to the Florida Panthers, along with second and fourth-round draft picks, in exchange for Erik Gudbranson and a fifth-rounder.
The deal ignited instant ire from the Vancouver fanbase, but it’s now a distant memory for McCann, whose NHL journey took him through Florida and to Pittsburgh — and Toronto for a few days — before he landed in Seattle as part of the 2021 expansion draft.
“That was a long time ago,” he told the media Thursday morning about his memories of Vancouver. “Water under the bridge I guess, right?
“I’m always going to be thankful to the Canucks for drafting me and giving me the opportunity to play in the NHL. It’s been amazing.”
In a bit of an ironic twist, it was current Canucks president Jim Rutherford who acquired McCann for the Penguins on Feb. 1, 2019. Three weeks later, Rutherford also picked up Gudbranson from Vancouver.
The two players who were traded for each other became teammates on the Penguins, but not for long. In October 2019, Gudbranson was on the move again to Anaheim.
While he was in Pittsburgh, McCann also played with two future Kraken teammates. Brandon Tanev was also an expansion draft selection while Justin Schultz signed with Seattle as a free agent last summer.
And while the Kraken’s inaugural season was largely underwhelming, GM Ron Francis showed faith in what McCann brought to the fledgling squad. Last March, he signed a five-year contract extension to remain in Seattle. It carries a cap hit of $5 million per season and runs through 2026-27.
This year, McCann formed good chemistry on a line with wily veteran Jordan Eberle and two-way rookie ace Matty Beniers, a front-runner for the Calder Trophy. The Kraken also added more scoring to their forward group, making for a more balanced attack, and are getting better goaltending.
Add it up, and you’ll find Seattle sitting in third place in the Pacific Division at the Christmas break — in a playoff spot.
Given his skillset, McCann couldn’t have asked for a better time to start his NHL tenure — just as scoring was starting to increase following the 2015-16 season.
But he didn’t want to dig into the reasons behind that trend, or cop to finding ways to take advantage of changes to rules or smaller goalie equipment.
“I’m just doing my thing,” he said. “Overthinking things sometimes can be a slippery slope. I just try to control what I can control.”
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