Kraken's Jared McCann thinks Canucks gave up on him too soon: 'I was in a dark place'

Seattle Kraken forward Jared McCann emerged as one of the best goal scorers in the NHL during the 2022-23 season but it didn’t always appear he’d reach those heights.

It took some time for McCann to realize his full potential after he was selected in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft by the Vancouver Canucks. McCann recently appeared on Luke Gadzic’s Mitts Off podcast, candidly explaining why he believed the Canucks gave up on him prematurely.

“I could’ve used a year in the AHL,” McCann said. "Mentally, I think it would have helped me. Physically, it would have helped me out. I was 172 pounds playing in the NHL as a 19-year-old. You get tossed around...

“I think they did give up on me early, I really do. Mentally, it affected me a lot. I was in a dark place… as a young player, you just want to play and get an opportunity to play in the NHL, it’s a dream, right? And then to get traded after your first year after having a decent opportunity, it was tough.”

McCann recorded 40 goals and 70 points for the Kraken in 2022-23, easily the best campaign of his career, steering the Kraken to a second-round playoff appearance. He finished tied for 23rd in points league-wide at 5-on-5 during the regular season, helping his team lead the NHL in goals at even strength.

After making the Canucks’ opening-night roster for the start of the 2015-16 season, McCann recorded nine goals and 18 points in 69 games. He was traded to the Florida Panthers in May 2016, then spent three seasons with the organization before carving out a larger role with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Pittsburgh traded McCann to Toronto four days prior to the 2021 expansion draft in exchange for Filip Hallander and a seventh-round pick. McCann was made available to Seattle by Toronto and the rest is history. It’s not just the Canucks who should be rueing McCann’s late bloom.

"I got the call from (former Penguins GM Ron) Hextall just telling me that they weren’t going to protect me in the expansion draft and that they just wanted to get a pick," McCann said. It’s a business. That’s just the way it goes. I didn’t take it personally."

McCann also thought he would be protected by former Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, partly because of their shared tenures with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds.

"When he told me I was exposed I thought that was at least great of him to tell me that, OK, we could be in Toronto or could be in Seattle,” McCann said of his conversation with Dubas.

For the time being, McCann has the last laugh. Dubas is now the president of hockey operations for the Penguins after his contract wasn’t renewed by the Maple Leafs, while the Canucks are still working through a seemingly infinite rebuild. The franchise has remained largely aimless through the duration of McCann’s professional career.