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The top player stuff gets up my craw mostly because: - 25th overall picks rarely become superstars in the history of the NHL draft - Nobody puts the same pressure on de La Rose as they do McCarron when they were selected nine spots apart. Heck Fucale gets treated with the patience one should be treating McCarron with since he was expected to be a first round pick but because we got him in the early 2nd instead, it's all on Big Mike. - If McCarron had the skill to be a consistent top six scorer with his size he never would have dropped to the final five choices in the first round. He would have been taken in the top five and treated like the second coming of Eric Lindros (or at least a poor man's Lindros) - When McCarron does find his game he will more likely be the type of guy who has third line skill but gets played on the top PP unit because of his size and ability in front of the net, enhancing his statistics into a top six forward. He won't be expected to take the defensive shifts of a top six player, nor will he be expected to take the carry load for offence at even strength. He's going to make his mark as a PP player and bump the fourth best winger on the team out of the PP rotation. And that all is perfectly fine with me on where he was drafted and what he brings to the table. For some, they obsess over the fact he was a first round pick and it's silly when the Habs basically had three draft picks in a 15 spot space. - The biggest McCarron hater here was crazy about J.T. Compher at the draft, and openly complained about us not selecting him when we could have had him at de La Rose's spot. Compher is still not in the NHL, which is fine, because... he's only 21! Something that does not extend to McCarron apparently.

Just to put the rancid cherry on top of the sh*t sundae that is the 2015-16 season...we call up this thug. indeed

He's 21. Mike Ribeiro at the same age had two points in his first 19 games. Gotta be patient with players. I honestly do not expect McCarron to find his offensive stride into the league until he's 24, 25, when comparable guys like Ryane Clowe and Bryan Bickell found their game.