SUNRISE, Fla. _ Jared McCann was just a teenager when he arrived in South Florida. And, well, he was still pretty darn young when he left a year ago.
McCann, a first-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 2014, was stunned when they traded him 23 months later, at 19, to the Florida Panthers. His first two years here were productive, certainly solid enough that he felt he might become a core player. But he was dealt again last season, on the move again at 22.
"It was a tough start to my career. I just grinded through and tried to stick with it as much as I could, stay positive," he said Friday. "I'm very thankful to Florida for the opportunity they gave me. I've got nothing but good feelings here."
McCann was back in South Florida this weekend for another game against his old team. The Penguins beat the Panthers, 3-2, at BB&T Center on Saturday.
It has been just over a year now since the Penguins acquired McCann and Nick Bjugstad from the Panthers in exchange for Derick Brassard and Riley Sheahan. Much of the buzz around Pittsburgh after the trade was about Bjugstad, who was more of a known commodity. But McCann has emerged as the centerpiece.
In his first 84 regular season games with the Penguins, McCann has buried 25 goals. Only Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust have scored more over that span. Just five teammates have tallied more points since his arrival Feb. 1, 2019.
The 23-year-old, who is set to become a restricted free agent this summer, said Friday that it feels like he has found a long-time home with the Penguins.
"Oh yeah," McCann said. "I think it only took a couple of weeks last year."
But given some time to reflect on his three years with the Panthers, he feels the experience, which was tough on him at times, helped him grow up fast.
"I feel like a lot of (NHL players have gone) through that," McCann said. "I think I definitely matured a little bit quicker than a lot of young guys do. I was in a position where I was kind of tossed around there a bit. I was spinning my wheels. Now that I'm here in Pittsburgh, I love it. Everybody's been great."
The Penguins are happy to have him around and will likely reward him with a new deal this summer, especially if he keeps putting the puck in the net.
McCann is one of the fastest players on the team and may have the wickedest wrister, too. He's a bright kid and a people pleaser, evidenced by his willingness to do whatever coach Mike Sullivan asks. McCann seen gotten significant time at both center and wing and has been used on both special teams units.
"His whole overall game has improved," Sullivan said. "He's much better in the battle areas and his tight-area game is improving. He's always shown an ability to score goals since he's been a Pittsburgh Penguin. He continues to do that for us. Obviously, we've used him at different positions. ... His versatility really helps."
The Penguins, who are still waiting for Bjugstad to return from injured reserve, still must decide where they ultimately want McCann to play. When they traded for him, they saw him as a center. But he ended up skating on the wing.
Late last season, they gave McCann a chance on a line with Sidney Crosby.
"I have pictures of him in my basement. That's a little creepy to say," he said with a laugh. "My initial reaction was to try to keep calm, try to take a deep breath and just go out and play my game and shoot the puck and skate hard."
It clicked at first. Their best game was March 2 in Montreal, when Crosby and Guentzel both had four-point nights. McCann scored, too, and was a plus-4.
"I played well and things have been going up ever since," McCann said.
McCann served as the second-line center after Crosby went down in November. When he returned Jan. 14, McCann slid over to left wing. Since then, he has often been in that spot as the Penguins look to find a suitable fill in for Guentzel, though he did skate alongside Evgeni Malkin for a chunk of Saturday's win.
"He's got a great shot. I didn't realize playing against him, then seeing it every day," Crosby said last month. "He shoots the puck a lot and with a shot like that he should. I think his speed opens up a lot. But then he's able to finish."
The Penguins are pushing McCann to let it rip more often. He has just 14 shots on goal over their last seven games with no more than three in any game.
In related news, he has scored just twice in his last 13 games as a winger.
It's understandable that McCann would want to give the puck right back to the best player in the world. But the Penguins want him to defer less often, especially if he is playing on the wing; being more of a distributor is OK at center.
"It's something that I definitely talk to the coaches (about), even Sid and my other teammates," he said. "It's something I feel like I look for the pass a little too much sometimes. I've got to get open and get in a good area to shoot the puck."
McCann did that during a second-period power play against his former team, and Crosby tipped it past Sergei Bobrovsky for what would be the game-winner.
So it was a successful trip back to South Florida, and not just due to the sun.
"I was sweating getting off the plane," he said with a grin. "So it was nice."
