While the NHL is on hold because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 55 individuals under NHL contract with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to high-profile trade acquisition Jason Zucker.

Player: Jared McCann

Position: Center

Shoots: Left

Age: 23

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 185 pounds

2019-20 NHL statistics: 66 games, 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists)

Contract: Second year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $1.25 million. Pending restricted free agent this upcoming offseason.

Acquired: Trade, Feb. 1, 2019

This season: Jared McCann never will be the Penguins’ most valuable player. Not as long as Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin are drawing pay checks from the organization.

But he might be their most useful.

During a season in which the Penguins had seemingly every aspect of their lineup impacted by an injury of some sort, few players found themselves being asked to fill different roles as regularly as the versatile McCann.

First-line left wing? Deal.

Second-line center? No problem.

Third-line left winger? Gotcha.

Take the draw on the power play? Sure.

First over the boards for a penalty kill? Yup.

That type of versatility is nothing new for this group. General manager Jim Rutherford always has valued forwards who can play a position or two. And Bryan Rust long ago cornered the market on that type of malleability. But he’s almost exclusively a right winger to Malkin these days.

McCann rarely has been deployed in a regular role throughout most of 2019-20. That is what has made him so valuable to the Penguins and their pockmarked lineup.

That said, it would be a stretch to suggest McCann has made the most of the skillset that made him a first-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks (No. 24 overall) in 2014.

Blessed with heavy wrister, McCann appeared sure to break the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career by the midway point of the season. But by the time the NHL halted play in mid-March, he had gone 22 consecutive games with out a goal. And much of that stretch came on a line with either Crosby or Malkin.

At the time of the NHL’s hiatus, McCann was being asked to center the team’s third line as well as the second power-play unit.

The future: Assuming the season resumes, McCann likely will be placed on the left wing with Nick Bjugstad at center and Patric Hornqvist on right wing. Management has had designs on that being a trio since training camp, but those hopes have been derailed, largely because of Bjugstad’s injuries.

When everyone is able-bodied, that trio has a blend of skill, speed and combativeness to make it an effective third line in the modern NHL.

McCann would be due a tidy raise and a contract with some term based on how he’s performed for the Penguins during his year-plus in Pittsburgh. But these aren’t normal times given how the NHL’s economics from this hiatus will impact the salary cap.

With the Penguins having to address goaltenders Tristan Jarry and Matt Murray, also pending restricted free agents, this upcoming offseason, McCann’s status will be on the back burner when it comes to the organization’s offseason priorities.

Regardless, McCann always will be a player the Penguins, or any other NHL team, will find useful.

Follow the Penguins all season long.

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