The Minnesota Wild signed Michael McCarron to a six-year, $20 million contract on Tuesday, taking one of their impending free agents off the market after his productive arrival following a midseason trade.
McCarron, 31, played in 20 regular-season games for the Wild after he was acquired from the Nashville Predators for a 2028 second-round draft pick on March 3. The 6-foot-6 center had his best NHL season, setting career highs with 109 shots on goal, 205 hits and 77 blocked shots.
"From my very first step in there to my last, it was a great experience for me, and there was no point in looking elsewhere in free agency," McCarron said.
He had two goals, two assists, 27 hits and a team-leading 14 blocked shots over 11 games for the Wild in the playoffs. He also won 54.5% of his faceoffs.
"He's become an integral part of the team," general manager Bill Guerin said. "... The way he performed on the ice proved to us that he was somebody that we wanted to be in business with for the foreseeable future."
Drafted in the first round by the Montreal Canadiens in 2013, the late-blooming McCarron made $900,000 this season on his expiring contract. The new deal through the 2031-32 season will carry an annual average value against the salary cap of $3.33 million.
After the Wild lost center Joel Eriksson Ek to a broken foot in the series-clinching win over the Dallas Stars, McCarron's role increased while playing on the second and third lines during the second-round series loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
Even if his long-term fit is best on the third or fourth line, McCarron showed Guerin and the Wild coaches he won't be a liability if asked to take on more responsibility.
"Size, right shot, penalty killing, his faceoffs, all those things. Mike's just a center. That's what he is," Guerin said.
With McCarron signing in advance and Marcus Johansson having opted to return to his roots and play in the Swedish Hockey League, the Wild have two unrestricted free agents of significance remaining: forwards Nick Foligno and Vladimir Tarasenko.
Guerin has promised to be aggressive this summer in continuing to try to upgrade the roster in pursuit of a Stanley Cup with their core of stars -- forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy and defensemen Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber -- in their prime years.
"I think we're in a great window right now, and that's why I did want to stay," McCarron said. "With the Minnesota Wild, it gives me and my teammates a great opportunity to go chase that thing."