Connor McMichael has been trying to prove he can be a consistent NHL player for three seasons now. However, the former 2019 first-round pick has been anything but.
Washington Capitals fans have been hyping McMichael up as if he is the player that will save this franchise and say that former head coach Peter Laviolette had something against the 22-year-old forward, which was the reason he did not get a lot of ice time.
Neither of those statements are true…so far.
That hype started after his first full season with Washington, where he had 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 68 games. Though those are not eye-popping numbers, he created tons of offense according to his underlying numbers. His 55.67 xGF% was the best on the team, so there were lots of reasons for optimism for the rookie forward.
The next year, McMichael made the opening night roster out of training camp, but only competed in six games in D.C. He was not the same player that everyone thought he could be, and served as a healthy scratch for the next 14 games before getting sent back down to Hershey in November.
Fans were frustrated, but in those six games he played, he was dreadful.
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However, the former London Knight did not complain about being demoted. When he finally got back on the ice for the Bears, he was playing his best hockey and slowly becoming a solid 200-foot player.
“The biggest thing moving forward is just having him be consistent the rest of the year. He’s taken some major steps, and that’s good to see,” Bears coach Todd Nelson said in March. “He’s playing his best hockey this time of year, and that’s great to see. We obviously want him to work on his 200-foot game, playing good with the puck and without the puck.”
For McMichael to take his game to another level and become a good NHL player is to continue to improve his compete level and bring his developed, 200-foot play to the NHL level. More importantly, as Nelson noted, be consistent on a night-to-night basis.
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Capitals coach Spencer Carbery, who coached McMichael in Hershey, has high hopes for the Ajax, Ontario native to bounce back and be consistent at the NHL level.
“He’s the real deal, but I think the best compliment [that] I can pay Mics is [that] he’s a gamer,” Carbery said. “When the games get really competitive, tight game 1-1 in the third period, a hostile environment in Wilkes and it’s a chippy game, he plays his best in [those] big moments… He believes he is going to get the job done or he’s going to score the big goal or make the big play. That’s a special quality.”
By Jacob Cheris
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Connor McMichael: 2023 Annual Review And Forecast
Assessing Connor McMichael’s Discernible Dip In Performance