McMichael Making The Most of His AHL Time With Hershey

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HERSHEY, Pa. - On February 20, 2021, Connor McMichael scored his first professional hattrick in Hershey’s 3-1 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Giant Center.

While that may seem rather unremarkable given what McMichael has done in his career in the OHL, the fact that he is skating in Hershey at all this season is only thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kind of odd to thank the pandemic for anything, but while other leagues have restarted, the OHL has remained on pause. Recently word has emerged that the league is looking into a shortened schedule, but the fact that many players are skating well in the AHL has created lots of uncertainty for players, McMichael and Lehigh Valley’s Zayde Wisdom among them.

For his part, McMichael, who skated a game in Washington with the Capitals this season, has taken well to the AHL and coach Spencer Carbery’s coaching, notching four goals in five games with the Bears, all against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

“The thing that I think we’re going to learn to appreciate about Connor is that he’s a very intelligent player and he is adapting on the fly to pro hockey and learning things,” Carbery said. “I’ve already had a couple of conversations with him about small little things that he needs to start to do at the pro level that he could get away with at the OHL that are going to be essential to him being successful not only at the NHL, but in pro hockey in general, and he picks it up like that. The next game you’ll see little of whatever area I talked to him about, it’s in.”

Carbery went on to say that coaches in the OHL spend more time coaching the younger guys who are not quite as talented as McMichael.

“You have this gifted, great first-round pick, Connor McMichael, and unfortunately, he gets the least of your teaching as a coach in the OHL because he’s elite,” Carbery said noting he coached in the OHL. “So, where your energy and focus goes to is the 16 and 17-year-old young players that you’re trying to get up to speed in the OHL…because they’re the bottom of your lineup that you need to get up to Connor’s ability. It’s such a benefit for him to come here now…there’s just so many benefits to him getting a taste of this early.”

Not only does McMichael have the benefit of coaching on the bench, but he also has it on the ice with Captain Matt Moulson.

“He’s like a coach out there almost,” second-year pro Kody Clark said of Moulson. “He’s always talking, so I think just listening to him and trying to work hard and get open for him because when you’re open, he’s going to find you.”

But it is not just on the ice that McMichael finds himself learning from Moulson.

“Coming to practice every day and seeing guys like Moulson especially, a veteran in the NHL, just learning off him, learning from guys that have been here awhile, and like I said, just working on that pro game and gaining all of the experience from guys like Mouls.”

Breaking down McMichael’s game, it is not hard to see why the left-handed shooting forward was taken in the first round of the 2019 draft by the Washington Capitals at 25th overall. He has great vision, tremendous puck control, the ability to finish, and an uncanny ability to get to where the puck is going before it gets there.

“The puck follows him around. It somehow, some way, it’s just he’s in the right place, right time and he sees the game that way,” Carbery said. “That’s something that as a coach you can’t teach that – where you can get to the spots that the puck is going to go offensively– that’s just instincts, and I think that’s what we’re going to learn to appreciate about Connor’s game that he’s got at the elite level, that hockey sense.”

In Saturday’s game, McMichael’s first goal came on the powerplay as he set up just a bit above Matt Moulson in the slot. After an entry from Garrett Pilon, McMichael’s first attempt was stopped, bounced off of Moulson, and McMichael redirected it into the net. Where his first was a thing of grit and sticking with the play, his second of the afternoon was a thing of beauty.

McMichael picked off a floating pass to Will Reilly at the blueline, skated the length of the ice, and beat Max Legace for the 2-1 lead.

“You kind of just read off of the goalie, see how far out he is of his crease, whether you’re going to shoot or deke, and then you just kind of go from there,” McMichael said in reference to what he was thinking as he skated towards Legace. “I saw that there was a little opening on the glove side, and I took advantage of it.”

Before the second period ended, McMichael appeared to have notched the hattrick, but the whistle sounded as Legace played the puck, giving Hershey a powerplay, but negating the rookie’s hattrick momentarily. Late in the third, with Legace on the bench for the extra attacker, McMichael sent the puck into the empty net, lifting the Bears to a 3-1 victory on home ice.

Zach Fucale, getting his first start of the season enjoyed watching McMichael on the ice. “He was doing everything right…even from our end he put it right down the middle,” Fucale said. “He had a good game, and it (the hattrick) was bound to happen at some point. You just see it coming, I had the chance to practice with him a couple of times and you could see it. I’m really happy for him. We’re all really happy for him and hopefully he gets many more of these.”

While they are happy to have McMichael as long as possible, talk of the OHL return looms on the horizon. In the eventuality that he does return to the London Knights, McMichael’s game has already grown.

“I think I just picked up the pro experience, playing against better players, faster, stronger guys” McMichael said. “If I do end up back in junior, it will be a really cool experience for me just playing at this pace, and hopefully I can continue to play at that pace if I do go back to London or if I do stay here.”

While it remains to be seen if McMichael stays in Hershey, he and other junior players are certainly benefiting from the experience.

Moulson added, “That’s going to be a huge advantage to his career. All these kids that could be playing junior, they’re playing pro hockey. That intensity day-in-day out in practice and in games and then playing at a little faster pace than maybe you would in juniors, so I think it’s going to be good for him. He’s obviously an extremely smart player, extremely talented. I think this is only beneficial for the juniors guys that are all playing in the AHL or NHL across the league.”