According to the London Free Press, after much deliberation, the newly drafted 25th-overall pick by the Montreal Canadiens has decided that the NCAA is not the route he’ll be taking, instead going to the OHL to play under Dale Hunter for the London Knights.
The Canadiens may have influenced Michael McCarron‘s decision, as they have seen what the Knights did for Jarred Tinordi’s development, with him coming out of the OHL about two years ahead of what they expected his development curve to be, playing regularly at the end of the season and the playoffs in the NHL.
Some fear that Hunter will have McCarron stuck into a goon-like role and not develop his scoring, but the Knights seem to be a prospect factory, and people had similar fears about Jarred Tinordi. Tinordi did fight a fair amount in his first OHL season, but he soon found out that he was of far more use on the ice and cut that down substantially.
There’s a lot of debate about which development path is better between the CHL and NCAA, but it seems to me that it varies greatly on the player in question. It could be that fewer practices and more game action will benefit McCarron more than the opposite, but we just can’t know right now. All we can do is respect the decision that he and the organization have made.
One plus to McCarron going the CHL route is that he can take part in training camp this year in September, as well as possibly get into a couple of preseason games. It also means that he can sign a pro deal sooner.
