His fists aren't the only thing Nashville Predators forward Michael McCarron lets do the talking.

Turns out McCarron, the man teammates said they'd least like to fight, lets his mouth do some talking, too.

The 6-foot-6, 232-pounder from Grosse Point, Michigan, was tabbed best trash-talker by teammates during an informal poll.

"Oh, that's good," the 28-year-old said with a chuckle. "I just talk the most, I think.

"We're a pretty quiet team."

After a few seconds of pondering, McCarron picked the runner-up.

"(Kiefer) Sherwood talks a lot, too," he said. "He gets under people's skin."

McCarron added that defenseman Tyson Barrie is "one of those sly guys."

"He's quiet," McCarron said. "He does it incognito."

'Gotta stick up for your team'

The art of talking is part of the game.

When done effectively, it can get other players off their game.

Talking also can serve as a reminder that what goes around can come just as quickly around.

McCarron pointed to the Predators' 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 14. He saw Ducks forward Ross Johnston go after Colton Sissons during the first shift of the game.

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"As he was coming off the ice, I had to say something to him," McCarron said. "Like, 'You're not going to push around our guys. Don't be an idiot.' "

McCarron later ran over Troy Terry to back up his warning.

Inevitably, McCarron and Johnston found themselves face to face, gloves tossed to the ice. That's when the words went away and the fists did the talking.

"It's a little back and forth," McCarron said. "That's what happens. Gotta stick up for your team and make sure they're protected."

Michael McCarron on trash talk: 'Same stuff every time'

Most talk is mundane, McCarron said.

"It's always like, 'You're going to be in the minors tomorrow,' " he said. "Same stuff every time."

Predators forward Filip Forsberg fancies himself anything but a trash-talker, though he harbors appreciation for the art and science behind it. He, too, said McCarron is the best talker on the team.

"First of all, you have to back it up," said Forsberg, who has just two career fights, his last in 2020 against tough guy Brayden Schenn of the St. Louis Blues. "I'm not going to sit there and (crap) talk. I might have to back it up.

"That's the biggest thing (McCarron) does."

Like McCarron, Forsberg said most trash talk is "standard stuff."

"There's been some creative ones, like here on the bench or guys from the other team that makes us laugh every now and then," he said.

Predators' Jeremy Lauzon on trash talk: 'I see red'

Predators defenseman Jeremy Lauzon, who jumped off the bench Friday to take on Schenn after Schenn hit Roman Josi hard, said he's not much for talking. Lauzon also said McCarron is the team's best talker.

"I think the language barrier kind of cuts me off a little bit," said Lauzon, who is from Quebec, Canada. "I'll do it but I don't think I'm good at it."

Lauzon said talk, though, can be effective.

"I like to get under the skin of people," he said. "But sometimes it gets under my skin and I see red after that."

Predators center Cody Glass said it's usually just "a lot of potty-mouth stuff." He listed McCarron and Sherwood, in that order, as the best talkers on the team.

He said he prefers creativity over anything.

"I heard someone say, 'If it weren't for faceoffs, you'd be a gym teacher,' " Glass said. "Because that was the only thing they were good at."

Some guys — "like (Matthew) Tkachuk," McCarron interrupted. "(Patrice) Bergeron)" — are more talk and not as much walk.

"You can't even talk to them," McCarron said. "They're idiots. That's what they do."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Find out who the best trash-talkers are on the Nashville Predators