Connor McMichael had a breakout 2024-25 season. The 24-year-old forward recorded new single-season career highs in goals (26), assists (31), and points (57) in 82 games, establishing himself as a true top-six winger in the NHL.
The only problem is that McMichael is a natural centerman and still views himself as a center despite only playing the position for two games during the regular season and in the Capitals’ final postseason game. The Caps will likely need another pivot this summer, with Lars Eller departing via free agency, and McMichael sounds like he’d like to throw his hat in the ring if given the chance.
“I think I want to be a center for sure,” McMichael said at Breakdown Day on Saturday. “I think that’s where I’m most comfortable. For me, it’s just wherever Carbs (Spencer Carbery) wants me to play, I’m fine with it. The benefit of playing wing for me this year was playing up in the lineup.
“Getting to play with Dubie and Tom Wilson was a huge benefit for me, and I thought that they really helped my game out a lot, and they created a lot of space for me. Obviously, two big bodies. So, whether it’s up in the lineup or down in the lineup, I for sure do want to play center, but I think I’m really comfortable at the wing as well.”
McMichael credits Caps head coach Spencer Carbery with helping aid his development and giving him more responsibility than someone like Peter Laviolette did in past years. The two had a prior connection before Carbery got the job in DC, working together during McMichael’s first pro season with the AHL’s Hershey Bears during the 2020-21 campaign.
The then-teenage McMichael led the Bears in scoring with 27 points (14g, 13a) in 33 games. Hershey won the AHL’s only trophy handed out that season, the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the league’s top regular-season team, as the COVID-19 pandemic did not allow for the Calder Cup to be awarded.
“Yeah, Carbs has been huge for my career,” McMichael said. “Going back to my first year pro down in Hershey, he really taught me what it was like to be a pro, how to conduct myself on and off the ice. Then, when he came here, it was the same thing. I had that connection back in Hershey with him, so it was pretty easy to talk to him at the start, but he really made me feel comfortable.
“He really believed in me. I think that was a huge thing as well. I could feel that confidence he had in me and that trust, so I think I was able to grow off of that and kind of expand into different areas of my game that I really excelled in.”
During the regular season, only four Capitals forwards, Tom Wilson (18:44), Alex Ovechkin (17:43), Dylan Strome (17:23), and Pierre-Luc Dubois (17:18), averaged more ice time per game than McMichael (16:49). McMichael played 15:59 of ice per game in Carbery’s first year behind the bench.
McMichael rewarded Carbery’s faith by being a positive five-on-five player in some very tough minutes against the opposition’s top lines. With McMichael on the ice, the Capitals saw 50.2 percent of shot attempts, 52.7 percent of expected goals, 54 percent of scoring chances, and 55.2 percent of high-danger chances.
“I think a huge factor of [my breakout season] was confidence for me,” McMichael said. “I think I got off to a good start at the start of the season and had a good camp, and I kind of just let that snowball into the year and just kept building my confidence.
“I find once you start making plays and you kind of figure out the league a little bit, you get a little bit more comfortable, and you figure out the pace of play. So I think for me, it was just being real comfortable and confident in my game. That helped me produce and help the team win.”
While McMichael is happy with his career-best year, he isn’t ready to rest on his laurels. The Ajax, Ontario native has big training plans for the offseason, specifically centered around working towards his goal of being a center next season.
“I think defensively, for me, especially if I want to be a center, I’ve got to work on getting stronger and working on my closes and cutting off plays down low,” McMichael said. “Just focusing on faceoffs a lot as well, I think, is going to be huge. I mean, you look at even in the playoffs, how many goals are scored right off a faceoff. They kind of go under the radar, but when you have guys that are winning faceoffs, the majority of the time it helps your team have possession and run plays off faceoffs.”
The 2025-26 season is the last season on the two-year, $4.2 million bridge deal McMichael signed with the Caps last summer. He is scheduled to be a restricted free agent again after the year and has no plans to go elsewhere.
“Yeah, I mean, I haven’t talked to my agent or anybody,” McMichael said. “I haven’t even thought about that yet. But for me personally, I love it here. I want to be here for a very long time, as long as possible, and help this team win. So, whether that’s a deal this summer, next summer, whatever it may be, I just know one thing is for sure: I want to stay.”
