Seattle Kraken forward Jared McCann was named one of the five most underappreciated forwards in the NHL according to Jacob Stoller of The Hockey News.
McCann is 28 years old and is entering his fourth season as a Kraken. Before the Kraken selected him from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the expansion draft, his offensive career was struggling to get started. His career-highs of 14 goals and 35 points were blown out of the water and he now has career-highs of 40 goals and 70 points.
As his role increased with the Kraken, his numbers increased and his overall impact on the game improved too. He's become effective at 5v5, the power play and the penalty kill, always finding ways to get his lethal shot off.
He's become a bonafide star in the league and Stoller had high praise for the Stratford, Ontario native.
"Boy, do the Toronto Maple Leafs probably rue exposing Jared McCann in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. Back then, McCann was a 25-year-old defensively reliable bottom-six center who was coming off back-to-back 14-goal campaigns. The Leafs acquired him from the Pittsburgh Penguins so they could leave him unprotected in the expansion draft, allowing them to keep Alexander Kerfoot. McCann was a decent secondary scorer, although he never really got a chance — with either the Penguins, Florida Panthers or Vancouver Canucks — to play in the top six. That all changed in Seattle. Since joining the NHL’s newest franchise ahead of the 2021-22 season, only Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak, Filip Forsberg and Nathan MacKinnon have recorded more 5-on-5 goals per 60 minutes than McCann (1.33) , according to naturalstattrick.com. McCann scored a career-high 40 goals during the 2022-23 season while flirting with the 30-goal mark during the 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons (scoring 27 and 29 goals, respectively). Oh, and he’s scored 50-plus points in each season with Seattle.
McCann has not only become the Kraken's best player, but he's become a leader and with the Kraken still having a vacancy at captain, McCann is a prime candidate to be named the second captain in Seattle Kraken history.
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