Carolina Hurricanes: The Time Was Right to Send Brock McGinn to the Checkers

Though the young player got off to a fast start, the Carolina Hurricanes picked a good time to send Brock McGinn down to the Checkers.

Among the many surprises this season has been the solid play of Carolina Hurricanes rookie Brock McGinn, a player that wasted no time getting acclimated to the NHL.

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On his first shift of his first game in the National Hockey League, McGinn scored his first goal with the Hurricanes.

The fun didn’t stop there for McGinn on that night. He went on to pick up an assist on Eric Staal‘s second period goal in route to a 5-3 win for the Hurricanes in Detroit.

Unfortunately for McGinn and the Hurricanes, the points dissapeared after that game for the rookie, but he was still making valuable contributions by laying the body on opponents and creating good offensive chances.

As time went on, the Hurricanes coaching staff continued to gradually bring down his playing time as McGinn saw his top-six role turn into a third-line, and then his third-line role turn into a fourth-line role.

11 games after his breakout NHL debut, Brock McGinn stood at just 3 total points, 2 of which came in his debut, and a -11 rating in 12 games with the Hurricanes. He also saw 10+ minutes of ice time just twice in his final 6 games prior to being sent down on November 11 after playing over 10 minutes per night in each of his first 6 games.

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With his decreasing ice time and lack of production, the Carolina Hurricanes had no choice but to put a cap on McGinn’s first NHL call-up and send him back down to the Charlotte Checkers.

It was likely a tough call for the Canes to end Brock McGinn’s first NHL stint, especially after he had a terrific first 5 or 6 games, but it was definitely the right move not only for the club, but also for the young player’s future.

McGinn was not seeing the ice time and getting the experience that a player at his age needs. The most valuable thing you can give a 21-year-old forward is ice time, and 5-9 minutes per game just isn’t enough given his current stage of development.

A player like him needs to be seeing at least 14-15 minutes of ice time every night, and he will get that with the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL.

He has proven to be a solid AHL contributor, and his good start with the Checkers this season, although in a small sample size, should put some optimism in Canes fans. He netted 2 goals in 2 games with Charlotte prior to his recall.

Brock McGinn’s a player that is hard to value just based on goals, assists and points. He is a game-changing player with his physicality and well-rounded two-way game, and that is what will make him a good NHLer one day very soon. If he can also get points and influence the outcome of a hockey game on the scoresheet, then the Hurricanes would definitely be okay with that too.

If he does turn into a prolific point getter, it won’t be due to snazzy plays like a Jeff Skinner; it will be because he can win board battles and drive the net to make an impact like Victor Rask and Jordan Staal.

McGinn’s size doesn’t seem to be a big deterrent for him either. He stands at just 6’0″, 185 pounds, but he plays like he is 6’2″, 210+ pounds due to his reckless and fearless mind set on the ice.

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He is a great contributor in the little yet very important areas, and it looks like he has a long NHL career ahead of him. Now just isn’t the right time for him to be getting a full year in the NHL. That being said, it wouldn’t shock me to see McGinn get another NHL call-up this season, especially if he continues to light it up for the Checkers.