Josh Caron: Who is He?

Earlier in the week, a name came across Twitter. Josh Caron. The tweet mentioned something about him being on a tryout with the Wild, and upon looking at the Traverse City roster, sure enough. Then, Bob McKenzie over at TSN mentioned that the kid can throw, and insinuated he has the toughness level the Wild seemingly lost with the departure of Derek Boogaard.

I had my doubts, but McKenzie is rarely wrong. Let's take a look at who Josh Caron is, and what he might bring to the table.

The best way to judge Caron's ability to replace Boogaard would certainly have to be to see how he handles himself in a bout:

Um... yeah. But that's just one example. Certainly, just a fluke, right? Wrong:

Fairly impressive showing. However, if you check out the full fight card for Caron, he certainly does not have the intimidation factor of standing toe-to-toe with Derek Boogaard. Most of his fights are wins, to be sure, but none stack up to Boogaard breaking Todd Fedoruk's jaw in one punch.

At 6'2", 200lbs, Caron is no small human being, but it obviously does not compare to the 6' 7" 275 lbs Boogaard.He does wear #24, though, so he has that.

To be fair, no one is has said outright that Caron can replace Derek Boogaard, but they are throwing around terms like "heavyweight" and "throws bombs." I'll agree with the throwing of bombs, and the kid can take a punch better than Tyson, but the Boogeyman has set a high bar here in Minnesota. As much as anyone deserves to excel in their chosen profession, Caron deserves his shot to excel in his.

Boiling it down? Boogaard would destroy Caron as fast as he destroyed Fedoruk. None of which is an insult.