Home / News / What the Hershey Bears see in Connor McMichael: a hard worker, defensively responsible centerman, and growing leader

What the Hershey Bears see in Connor McMichael: a hard worker, defensively responsible centerman, and growing leader

By Ian Oland

 1 Comment

May 3, 2023 4:13 pm

HERSHEY, PA — Coming off a promising end to the 2021-22 season, Capitals top center prospect Connor McMichael seemed destined for a bigger role in 2022-23 — a pivotal year in his development in the NHL.

Except that didn’t happen. A lack of opportunity from head coach Peter Laviolette forced McMichael to re-find himself 132 miles north in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

There, he’s become a crucial player for Todd Nelson’s Bears and a respected leader of the team, playing in all situations.

The Bears lean on McMichael to produce and he does. As one Bears player put it, the prospect is “all in” in Hershey and having fun again.

“He could have had a shitty attitude and not want to be here,” Mike Vecchione said. “He came down and really helped us out.”

No opportunity to succeed

In September, McMichael began Day One of the Capitals’ Training Camp as the team’s second-line center. He was removed a day later in favor of offseason signing Dylan Strome. McMichael made the Opening Night roster but never regained one of the team’s four center positions. Laviolette instead utilized McMichael as the team’s 13th or 14th forward on the wing along with Joe Snively.

McMichael was a healthy scratch for the first four games of the regular season despite being waiver exempt, meaning he could be sent down to the Hershey Bears at any time without being exposed to other teams. Connor’s season debut came on October 20 against the Ottawa Senators. He would get 8:33 of ice time.

His most notable moment of the game was that he got into a fight — the first of his career — perhaps attempting to show Laviolette how much he wanted to play. McMichael stood up for one of the team’s leaders, John Carlson, after a big hit.

But that didn’t impress Laviolette. McMichael would sit in four straight games after that before reappearing in an October 31 matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes, receiving a season-low 6:51 of ice time. McMichael was scratched the next game against Vegas before playing two consecutive games on November 3 (Detroit Red Wings, 8:56 TOI) and November 5 (Arizona Coyotes, 11:29 TOI). McMichael would then be scratched for three consecutive contests and missed a week’s worth of games before returning on November 13 against the Tampa Bay Lightning (9:17). He was scratched the team’s next game against Florida before suiting up the final time this season against the St. Louis Blues (8:01).

“I’m sure it’s tough sitting out,” Laviolette said when asked about McMichael’s usage directly. “Every player wants to play and that’s a good thing. He’s just got to keep working hard and wait for his chance.”

On November 20, Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan finally pulled the plug on the experiment and sent McMichael to Hershey.

McMichael was not getting ice time to either meaningfully contribute or develop. He registered no points in those six NHL games, posting more PIMs (5) than shots on goal (2). He averaged a meager 8:51 of ice time.

To put McMichael’s usage in perspective, of 539 NHL forwards who played at least 50 minutes this season, McMichael ranked 520th in ice time per game. Only three players with ice time below McMichael have played more than a handful of games in the NHL this season: Julien Gauthier (57 GP), Dryden Hunt (37), and Givani Smith (36). All three of those players were traded this season.

Of those same 539 NHL forwards, none recorded a lower on-ice expected-goal percentage than McMichael did (22.5 percent) in his 52 minutes of ice time. The Capitals and their opponents each scored two goals while McMichael was on the ice. McMichael’s on-ice xG percentage in 696 minutes one season earlier was 56.5 percent.

The sporadic play and light minutes at his unnatural position left McMichael, optimally used as a play-making center, struggling to find his niche as the team floundered.

“You can’t just throw (young) players in there and start sitting the veteran players that you’re here to coach,” Laviolette said recently.

Re-finding his confidence

When McMichael arrived in Hershey around Thanksgiving, he had every reason to sulk. After playing 75 games over the last three seasons in the NHL, including 68 in 2021-22 where he showed he belonged, he was back in the AHL, making approximately $800k less as a minor leaguer.

“It’s something I’ve never really been through before, just not playing,” McMichael said of being a healthy scratch in 14 of the Capitals’ first 20 games.

The rap on McMichael is that his defensive game and work along the walls need more work as he gains more strength, size, and experience. For McMichael to permanently take the next step, the coaching staff in Hershey believed the prospect had to be pushed beyond his comfort zone and play in all situations.

“Sometimes when guys get sent down from the NHL, they have a hard time adjusting,” Hershey Bears head coach Todd Nelson said. “Everybody wants to be in the NHL. But right now he’s invested into our hockey team.”

McMichael plays big minutes for Hershey every night. He centers the team’s second line. (Veteran Mike Sgarbossa centers the first.) As one of the team’s best passers and skaters, McMichael’s been tasked to quarterback the Bears’ first power-play unit, setting up shop at the point as he carries the puck into the zone.

“It’s a bit different, something I’ve never done before,” McMichael said. “I think I’m adjusted to it well and I don’t mind it. It’s good to make plays up there and I feel like I have the skillset to do that.”

Nelson has also made McMichael a permanent member of the team’s penalty kill, asking the 22-year-old to jump over the boards when Hershey’s down a man as part of the second or third unit.

“With the PK, it’s just you have to find little things that the coaches can rely you on to put you out there and get those extra minutes,” McMichael said. “It’s something I want to implement into my game for the next level. It’s for sure tough, but I’m down here working on my game and building that trust in the coaching staff.”

McMichael has earned the respect of his veteran teammates, such as veteran Beck Malenstyn, who is more defensive-minded and a frequent call-up to Washington. Malenstyn described McMichael as a “defensively, responsible centerman.”

“Obviously, as a skilled guy, you’re going to take offensive chances every once in a while and things are going to happen,” Beck Malenstyn said. “He’s had chances on the penalty kill where I thought he excelled too. He’s had a lot of opportunities to really grow his game and I think he’s soaking it all in, he’s really taking it as a challenge. I think he’s succeeding with it really well and that’s only going to help him moving forward.”

McMichael’s first few weeks with Hershey started somewhat slow; the center went without a point in five of those outings as he got ramped up and used to playing a lot again. Then in mid-December, everything began clicking. McMichael scored four goals in five games.

“I think I just got my footing back under me,” McMichael said. “I’m getting used to playing those big minutes again. I think I’ve just been playing with a lot more confidence since I came down here. I feel like I’ve got some freedom to make some plays and the coaches are allowing me so it just builds my confidence.”

McMichael scored 34 points in 47 games since mid-December, including a 10-game point streak from March 11 to April 2.

Bears alternate captain and first-line winger, Mike Vecchione, was effusive in his praise for his top-six partner.

“I got to watch him a little bit in the NHL and from what I saw he was playing really well,” Vecchione said. “I think he’s just a really good teammate. He plays the right way, he competes, he’s grown into his leadership role throughout the year. He had every reason not to, but he’s been one hell of a teammate.”

Nelson added, “I think right now he’s playing a more consistent hockey game than he was when he first came. He’s been playing his best hockey and we want to see that continue.”

A growing leader

Despite his quiet demeanor and even-keeled personality, McMichael has been a part of the leadership group on every team he’s played on before arriving in Washington’s organization.

Connor was an alternate captain of Dale Hunter’s London Knights during the 2019-20 OHL season.

Photo courtesy of London Knights release

McMichael was also an alternate captain on Team Canada’s 2021 World Junior Championship team.

On March 17, McMichael got his first chance to wear the A for the Bears, receiving the letter in an away game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms with Vecchione out due to injury.

“We saw Connor really take a step about, maybe two and a half months ago where, you know, he’s saying all the right things in the bench, he’s leading by example and we saw the leadership side of him that I didn’t expect but it’s nice having that,” Nelson said. “Because we have a strong room and he helps with that. But you know, his speed, in practice he’s been working really hard. He’s trying to be the hardest-working guy out there and it’s translating to good hockey.”

During a recent practice, McMichael was noticeably the first player on the ice for a scrimmage, working through his strides as other players made their way out of the locker room.

“I think he’s matured quite a bit,” Mike Sgarbossa said. “I think that as a player it was unfortunate the way Washington – how he was not playing. I don’t think that was great and I think when he came down here he started to play and started to get his confidence back and really be himself. I think he as a person is another good person on our team of great people. I think he was doing a lot of things that as far as a leader you need to follow. You need to lead and show people how to play the right way. I think he was doing that and he got better and better and better as the season went on. That’s what you’re looking for.”

McMichael has even participated in some of the more ridiculous parts of being a Hershey Bears player, which has helped bring the team even closer together. Vecchione invented the ROAR celebration during the preseason, where a player does a bear pose and lets out a ferocious roar after scoring.

McMichael has joined in on the fun, further coming out of his shell.

“We would talk, me and Mikey, before games and be like ‘Yeah I really want to roar tonight’ and I’d be like ‘Yeah same here,'” Vecchione said. “If he scores he’s roaring on me leaning over the bench and vice versa when I score. All the boys just over the bench ready to go. The atmosphere we have every night is one of the best I’ve ever played in front of. Having that roar, it’s like elevated everybody.”

During the postseason, McMichael has also begun yelling “RELEASE US” in the tunnel, like the players are a bunch of caged, well, Bears.

“For you guys it’s more, you see what’s on the ice and all that stuff, but in the locker rooms and practices he’s more talkative,” Vecchione said. “He assumes more of a leadership role, but at the same time, he doesn’t overstep the older guys like Mac, Nesser, Scarbs, myself. He kind of sees these guys as a leadership group, but when he has something to say he’s not afraid to say it. When someone doesn’t make quite the right play he’s not afraid to tell them, let them know. As pro athletes, we’re all going to make mistakes on the ice. When somebody criticizes me, I’m more than willing to take it from one of my teammates. And I think that’s something that’s stronger than when the coaches say something to you.

“I think that’s been something that we’ve had in our locker room the whole year is guys holding the teammates accountable, and he’s one of the guys that’s been doing that on a consistent basis,” Vecchione added. “He’s played the point on the power play and whatever position we’ve needed him to play and he’s done really well at everything. His leadership role has been great, his attitude, his play, all of that.”

Sam Anas added, “I think we all know that situation and know that he’s a competitive guy. Like anyone, he wants to be in the NHL, we all want to be in the NHL. He hasn’t let off-ice stuff affect his play and his attitude down here. I think he’s gotten to become a much more complete player and he seems to be playing every situation. He’s one of our go-to guys. It’s great to see his development as a player and as a guy.”

McMichael has especially tried to help younger prospects and high draft picks that he can relate to like Hendrix Lapierre and Vincent Iorio. Lapierre was scratched twice in February by Nelson to reset and re-find his intensity.

“Although he’s a year older than myself and some of the other guys, you can definitely feel that presence of him being a leader in the locker room,” Iorio said. “Me personally he’s helped Lappy and I out a ton with all the ups and downs in the league and the struggles that we’ll face in January and February if we have a couple bad games in a row. He’s kinda taken us under his wing and we’re able to watch him on the ice and see how good of a player he is. If he has a bad shift, he’s able to recover and get a reset and I think that’s why he’s so good.”

Playoff experience

McMichael has already delivered for the Bears putting them on the brink of a three-game sweep of the Charlotte Checkers in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. The Bears had a bye in the first round. Game Three is at Giant Center, Wednesday night in Hershey.

McMichael scored a goal in Game One and Game Two, firing a combined six shots on net. He has a plus-minus of plus-three.

“McMichael has had a good year. I think he’s played a pretty good two-way game down in Hershey. The playoffs will be a next level for him. So, that’s good,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said during Breakdown Day. “It’s exciting because they’re a good team. They’ve got a deep team down there. It’s a well-rounded team. We’ve got some young guys there that hopefully do well.”

While the Bears try to win their twelfth Calder Cup, the Capitals will be looking for a new head coach – one that could be younger and more friendly to developing players. Three possible candidates for the job include Spencer Carbery (former Bears head coach), Todd Nelson (current Bears head coach), and Scott Allen (former Bears head coach, current Capitals assistant coach) — who have all had success coaching Connor in the past.

No matter if he’s featured on next year’s Capitals team, fighting for a spot on the fringes, or traded away during the offseason, McMichael made this promise to me while reflecting on his ups and downs over the last three seasons.

“We’ll see what happens but no matter what, I’ll be the same player,” he said.

Headline photo: Ian Oland/RMNB