The season is quickly approaching, which means it’s time to look towards the future. We do that every year with the Five For Howling 25 Under 25, ranking the Coyotes’ best players under 25. For this year’s rankings, I am joined by James Reeve (@JamesRJReeve), Mike Gould (@miketgould), Haynes Evans (@HaynesPEvans), and Matthew Jacobson (@TheAZSportsGuy).
Jack McBain
2022-23 League: NHL (Arizona Coyotes)
Games Played: 82
Goals: 12
Assists: 14
World Championship Games Played: 10
World Championship Goals: 2
World Championship Assists: 2
Highest Rating: 6
Lowest Rating: 15
Jack McBain was originally drafted 63rd overall by the Minnesota Wild in 2018. After three seasons with Boston College in the NCAA, McBain seemed to think he would be better off with a team with space for him, so he made it clear he would not be signing with the Wild. And so the Coyotes scooped up his rights for a 2022 second-round pick, which the Wild used to draft Hunter Haight.
After finishing the 2021-22 season with the Coyotes and registering two goals and an assist in ten games, McBain was far from a lock to make the team out of training camp. But McBain impressed, and he would go on to not miss a game for the Desert Dogs.
McBain was good but not great in his rookie season. He looked like he belonged in the NHL and provided some good offense, but he wasn’t in the Calder conversation. He played a fair amount of time with Liam O’Brien and Christian Fischer but finished the season with Lawson Crouse and Matias Maccelli and fit in well with the more offensive players.
Along with providing some good secondary scoring, McBain was one of the Coyotes’ top penalty killers. He and Lawson Crouse were tied with 173 minutes and 46 seconds played short-handed, with McBain playing in five more games. The only forward to play more minutes was Christian Fischer.
After the season was over, McBain went with Coyotes’ head coach André Tourigny to represent Canada at the World Championship. Team Canada won gold, and McBain finished with a respectable two goals and two assists.
McBain’s solid season earned him a two-year, one-way deal with a decent raise. He will make $1,599,999 per year for the next two years and will still be an RFA after.
If you look at the players that General Manager Bill Armstrong has drafted and gone after, you are going to see a lot of players like McBain. This is both good and bad for McBain. It shows that GMBA respects the role that McBain plays, but it could also mean that he will face internal competition soon. McBain needs to continue to get better and better every season, or he may find his minutes going to a player like Conor Geekie.
Last season was McBain’s first full season with the Coyotes, and he looked good. There is no reason to expect that to change for next season, especially if he spends time with one of the Coyotes’ more skilled off-season acquisitions. The 23-year-old Toronto native is still years away from his peak, so hopefully, he continues to show us what he can do.