This is the 16th installment in a series of profiles of members of the Penguins' major-league roster, as listed alphabetically on the team's website. There will be one each weekday until all players have been addressed.
JARED McCANN
Age: 23
Size: 6 foot 1, 185 pounds
Position: Center, Wing
Acquired: Trade with Florida, 2019
Salary-cap hit: $1.25 million, through 2019-20
2018-19 NHL stats: Nineteen goals, 16 assists in 78 games (11 goals, six assists in 32 games with Penguins)
How he fits: Put him on the long list of versatile forwards who could turn up anywhere on the top three lines. McCann also is qualified to be a regular on the penalty-killing unit.
Shortcomings: McCann hasn't come close to fulfilling the offensive potential that prompted Vancouver to make him a first-round draft choice in 2014. (His brief stint with the Penguins is the only time in his career when he's produced points at an every-other-game pace.) He probably would benefit from adding a little more weight/muscle.
Strengths: His modest career assists total aside, McCann has shown good playmaking skills. He's also a threat to score while shorthanded; three of his 11 goals with the Penguins were scored while they were down a man.
Hidden variable: McCann's relative youth should not be overlooked. Although he has 244 NHL games on his resume, he didn't turn 23 until May 31, so he's roughly the same age as some players who just exhausted their college eligibility last season. That means he still is very much a work-in-progress.
2019-20 expectations: As with so many others on this team, projections of his offensive output will be affected by where he plays, and who he has for linemates. Regardless of those details, though, anything less than 45 points over 82 games likely will be a disappointment, especially since he'll be playing for a contract.
The big question: Was his strong play most of the time after being acquired from the Panthers an aberration, or a foundation on which he can build even greater success in the future?
All profiles to date can be found here.
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