Michael McCarron won’t be playing for Western Michigan after all.
After getting selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round (25th overall) of the NHL draft back on June 30, McCarron signed with the club Thursday, forgoing his commitment to Western Michigan.
McCarron is expected to play for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League for the 2013-14 season, but could also suit up for the Hamilton Bulldogs, Montreal’s American Hockey League affiliate.
“It’s more of a loss for the future than the first year here,” WMU coach Andy Murray told mlive.com. “He had a learning curve to play the college game. Any time you lose a player this time of year, it’s a loss for the program, but we have some other players we could bring in that are already committed to us that we will look at.
“Our feeling is our program is on solid footing and we will put someone in the lineup to replace Michael McCarron.”
In 55 games with the U.S. National Team Development Program’s Under-18 team in 2012-13, McCarron tallied 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) with 180 penalty minutes and a plus-6 rating. He added five points (three goals, two assists) in seven games with Team USA at the World Under-18 Championship this past April in Sochi, Russia.
