Michael McCarron Autographed Card

On December 29, I went to Place Bell to see the Laval Rocket play the Charlotte Checkers, a game the Checkers dominated where one goalie (Laval's Étienne Marcoux) and two skaters (one from each team) were clear standouts, despite not racking many points in a nine-goal game won 5-4 by Charlotte.

For the home team, Michael McCarron nabbed an assist, but he was clearly - by far - the best player wearing red. He was like a member of the 1990s Legion Of Doom playing against AHLers; the day when he will put all the ingredients together, his impact will likely be as massive as Milan Lucic's.

As it stands, he's 23 (two years from hitting his prime as a power forward), 6'6", 230 pounds, with a strong, accurate shot, deceptive and impressive speed, and a willingness to knock opponents over like bowling pins, whether they're in his way or not.

I'm not saying he'll be a constant threat to score 35 goals at the NHL level, but I can see a 20-25-goal scorer, 40-50-points per year with a high of 65 once, who is a driving force of play for at least t5hree years, hopefully five. He's already too good for the AHL, he deserves a third-line NHL job until he can prove to be a top-six forward.

He signed his first OHL card in blue sharpie for me after the game, #15 in In The Game's 2013-14 Heroes And Prospects set:

It shows him sporting the London Knights' white (home) uniform, the team he wore an "A" with for a year and won the Memorial Cup against (as a member of the Oshawa Generals, who traded for him midway through the 2014-15 season).

He has so far won three silver medals playing for Team USA - at the 2012 U-17 Championships, and the 2018 World Juniors and World U-18 Championships.