Columbus Blue Jacket Prospect Watch: Max McCue
The Blue Jackets welcomed London Knights center Max McCue into the organization last week. While he won't shoot straight to the top of our prospect rankings, he's an interesting player to bring into the mix.
By Curtis Deem
Last season, we saw the Jackets sign college UFA Hunter McKown to an entry-level deal late in the season. They make a similar move this year in adding overage forward Max McCue from the OHL's London Knights.
There is exactly one similarity between these guys: they are both centers. Aside from that, I think we're about as close to being complete opposites as we could possibly be.
McKown went straight into the NHL, where he took Cole Sillinger's spot in the lineup after the struggling sophomore was sent to the AHL's Cleveland Monsters.
Though signed to an entry-level contract, McCue will finish out his season in the OHL - and then, I presume, will join the Monsters for their end of season push and/or playoff run.
On the ice, McCue is a vastly different type of player. He can put up points, but he's not the kind of play driver or sniper that the team acquired in McKown.
Through 54 OHL games this season, McCue has a modest 26 goals and 27 assists for 53 points. I say modest because he's an overage player on one of the premier teams in junior hockey.
He sits 8th on the Knights in scoring, which in itself had me wondering why the Jackets sought to sign this guy, out of any available free agent. But then I spent the weekend watching game footage and highlights, and it made sense.