Carolina Hurricanes: Brock McGinn is the Biggest Disappointment of 19-20

After being the playoff hero that helped knock off the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, Carolina Hurricanes forward Brock McGinn has been a disappointment.

Brock McGinn, drafted 47th overall in the second round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, had lofty expectations going into the 2019-2020. He filed for arbitration earning himself a two year, $2.1 Million dollar contract and a chance to prove that he can fill a top six forward role as he continues to grow.

After basically single-handedly ensuring a win at the Capital One Center last season against the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals and being a core part of the offense that swept the New York Islanders, Brock McGinn felt that he was ready for the next step in his NHL Career and that he deserved more minutes.

He got those minutes early in the season, but as the season dragged on, McGinn began to disappear and continue his regression. He came in with high expectations to revive his career and begin to take a hold of it, but he ended up being the largest disappointment of the season.

Now I say disappointment because of the expectations. With only seven goals and ten assists to his name in 68 games played this season, he is only on pace for 20-21 points in a complete 82 game season. That would put him a full ten points behind his career high of 30 points only two seasons ago.

Last season he had a regression from the 30 points to 26, but he came alive in the playoffs to add another six points in 15 games played. Not good enough for top six, but good enough to be a solid third liner and begin thinking about cracking the top six.

This year it took him 13 games to find the back of the net. In fact he has only managed to put points in back to back games twice the entire season. This has relegated him to the fourth line and perhaps even out of the lineup if it means making room for guys like Morgan Geekie or Ryan Dzingel to come in and play.

Now what about his minutes played? That has to be a factor, with the talent that Carolina now has, there has to be a shift in ATOI right? It has. Last season it went from 14:19 to 13:12 per game.

More from Cardiac Cane

• 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase: Takeaways from the Canes’ Strong Showing in Florida
• Week Two Coverage Of College Hockey In NC
• Derek Stepan Ends His On Ice Career As A Hurricane
• The Southeast Rookie Showcase Will Be a Good Look at Carolina’s Future
• Noesen Ready To Provide Depth For Canes

That’s a little over a minute shift, but  earlier in the season he was consistently getting 14, 15, and even 16 minutes per game with nothing to show for it. Naturally Coach Brind’amour’s confidence in young Brock waived and he began to get less and less minutes. So a season that looked like he was going to play more and more, ended up with him playing less.

The advanced analytics show a deeper picture of a roster that just might be better off without McGinn. Among all forwards only Jordan Martinook generates less xG than McGinn. This is equally reflective in his shooting talent with the same two at the bottom of the roster, even with all the defenders accounted for. These take into account all situations, 5v5 or otherwise.

No matter which way you look at the graphs there is only one player that has played at least ten games for the Carolina Hurricanes that has been as invisible as Brock McGinn; Brian Gibbons.

When McGinn is on the ice the team has a xGoal percentage of 40.3%, only Gibbons has a lower xGoal Percentage. But with McGinn watching from the bench that number jumps up to 57.4%! That is the highest amongst all forwards and only Brett Pesce and Joel Edmundson have a higher percentage.

Now I know what you are thinking. Why McGinn? Why not Martinook, or Gibbons, or Jordan Staal? The answer is simple, I didn’t have any expectations from those players the way I did for McGinn. I am disappointed in him because he was supposed to be better than this. He still has a high ceiling and a chance to prove his value when the season returns or next year.

Question For CC Readers: Who do you think is the biggest disappointment on the Carolina Hurricanes?