Michael McCarron was traded to the Minnesota Wild by the Nashville Predators on Tuesday for a second-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft.
The 30-year-old forward has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 59 games this season. He also led the Predators in hits (165), was second in face-offs taken (811), third in blocked shots (60), sixth in takeaways (17), and first among their forwards in short-handed ice time per game (2:29).
“I’m from Detroit,” McCarron said. “I’m a Midwest boy, so I get this area, part of the country. Haven’t been here in a long time but super excited to come into such a well-oiled machine. Such a great team, hard to play against. Had some good battles against a lot of guys on this team, and I’m happy I’m on their side now. So, very excited.
McCarron is in the final season of a two-year, $1.8 million contract ($900,000 average annual value) he signed with Nashville on Feb. 16, 2024. In Nashville, he played for John Hynes, who is now the coach of the Wild.
“He brings a lot, and face-offs are one element of his game that we really like,” Wild general manager Bill Guerin said. “[Coach John Hynes] had him before, so there’s some comfort there with the coach and the player, which I think is good. But yeah, face-offs is something we’ve been needing to improve and looking to improve. I think Mike has the ability to be a really good face-off guy, and on the penalty kill, too. And the right shot, it’s hard on your off side, and I think just to have that right-handed guy is important also.”
Selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round (No. 25) of the 2013 NHL Draft, McCarron has 74 points (33 goals, 41 assists) in 361 regular-season games for the Canadiens and Predators. He does not have a point in nine Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Minnesota (36-16-10) is third in the Central Division, three points behind the Dallas Stars and nine points behind the Colorado Avalanche.
“It’s nice to have. A bigger body, heavier guy (6-foot-6, 232 pounds), but he gets around the ice,” Guerin said. “And like I said, he’s a good penalty killer, and he’s very competitive, which is attractive. So, there are a lot of elements to his game that we like.”
Later on Monday, the Predators traded forward Cole Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights for defenseman prospect Christoffer Sedoff and a third-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft.
The 30-year-old forward has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in 42 games this season. He ranked second on the team in hits (119) and was fourth in short-handed time on ice per game (2:16).
Smith is in the final season of a two-year, $2 million contract ($1 million AAV) he signed with Nashville on Jan. 24, 2024.
Smith has 62 points (23 goals, 39 assists) in 270 regular-season games since signing with the Predators as an undrafted free agent on March 19, 2020. He does not have a point in five playoff games.
Sedoff, 24, has four assists in 38 games with Henderson of the American Hockey League this season. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Golden Knights as an undrafted free agent on March 2, 2023.
Vegas (29-19-14), which has lost three in a row, is in first place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Anaheim Ducks and four points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers.
Nashville (28-26-8) is three points behind the Seattle Kraken for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.
NHL.com independent correspondent Jessi Pierce contributed to this report