C Connor McDavid (2015, 1st, EDM) VII

[Soundwave]

Hall's biggest problem is his hockey IQ. He's a puck-hog winger with tunnel vision who doesn't know how to utilize teammates and elevate his game. As a Jets fan, I can say quite confidently that Hall is nothing more than a skilled version of E. Kane minus the physicality or grit.

McDavid is the full offensive package. There's a reason why he's cast as a generational talent on the same tier as Crosby. Would it also be wrong to call Crosby a vastly superior player to Phil Kessel?

As for the bolded, what? Eberle is a perennial 60-70 point guy, RNH is a former 1st overall pick who is developing into a dandy two-way center who can put up 60 points over a full year. You make it sound as if Hall plays for the Arizona Coyotes.

Hall has led the Oilers in assists the previous two season to last one by a country mile. The only reason he didn't lead the team in assists again was he missed about 30 games, but even last year he had the highest assist per game rate on the team.

He's a pretty willing passer and most everyone on the team that plays on his line gets a boost in stats.

Even Yakupov played his best hockey not with RNH or Eberle but with Hall.

 

[McMozesmadness]

Hall's biggest problem is his hockey IQ. He's a puck-hog winger with tunnel vision who doesn't know how to utilize teammates and elevate his game. As a Jets fan, I can say quite confidently that Hall is nothing more than a skilled version of E. Kane minus the physicality or grit.

McDavid is the full offensive package. There's a reason why he's cast as a generational talent on the same tier as Crosby. Would it also be wrong to call Crosby a vastly superior player to Phil Kessel?

As for the bolded, what? Eberle is a perennial 60-70 point guy, RNH is a former 1st overall pick who is developing into a dandy two-way center who can put up 60 points over a full year. You make it sound as if Hall plays for the Arizona Coyotes.

This is easily the biggest misconception about Hall.

 

[KCC]

Hall's biggest problem is his hockey IQ. He's a puck-hog winger with tunnel vision who doesn't know how to utilize teammates and elevate his game. As a Jets fan, I can say quite confidently that Hall is nothing more than a skilled version of E. Kane minus the physicality or grit.

McDavid is the full offensive package. There's a reason why he's cast as a generational talent on the same tier as Crosby. Would it also be wrong to call Crosby a vastly superior player to Phil Kessel?

As for the bolded, what? Eberle is a perennial 60-70 point guy, RNH is a former 1st overall pick who is developing into a dandy two-way center who can put up 60 points over a full year. You make it sound as if Hall plays for the Arizona Coyotes.

Stats say other wise as others have said. The only problem of Hall, IMO is he doesn't have the hands to go with his speed. He has stone hands, let's not kid ourselves. Then again not many players at his top speed have the hands to begin with. McDavid does and he's probably faster than Hall which is truly scary.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

I'm sorry, but weren't fans claiming teams needed to trade their entire cores + their next 10 firsts for the McDavid Pick?

Did he or did he not win a poll of him vs Crosby?

Crosby was a 100 point player as a rookie. The expectations were set by other people than the doubters. If he scores anything but PPG or isn't in the top 10 of scoring it is a disappointing season, especially given the Oilers offensive talent vs when Crosby was a pen.

There are extremists on both sides. That doesn't change the reality of the situation. He is what he is, maybe the best prospect since Crosby. What he does in the NHL nobody knows at this point.
But none of this is surprising, people hyping him to the roof, and people at the opposite end from that opinion. All of this would have been easy to foresee years ago.

 

[Ainec]

McDavid will not set the world on fire in his first season. But in his second season.. Watch out.

That's what he did in the OHL

 

[booyakasha]

Hall's biggest problem is his hockey IQ. He's a puck-hog winger with tunnel vision who doesn't know how to utilize teammates and elevate his game. As a Jets fan, I can say quite confidently that Hall is nothing more than a skilled version of E. Kane minus the physicality or grit.

McDavid is the full offensive package. There's a reason why he's cast as a generational talent on the same tier as Crosby. Would it also be wrong to call Crosby a vastly superior player to Phil Kessel?

As for the bolded, what? Eberle is a perennial 60-70 point guy, RNH is a former 1st overall pick who is developing into a dandy two-way center who can put up 60 points over a full year. You make it sound as if Hall plays for the Arizona Coyotes.

This is 100% false.
quite incredible you actually think that.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Stats say other wise as others have said. The only problem of Hall, IMO is he doesn't have the hands to go with his speed. He has stone hands, let's not kid ourselves. Then again not many players at his top speed have the hands to begin with. McDavid does and he's probably faster than Hall which is truly scary.

I agree with this. I think Hall has pretty good vision when he can get his head up, and is excellent at creating scoring opportunities for his linemates using his speed. But he's got very poor hands, which makes it harder for him to get his head up as quick as he'd probably like.

 

[rosemount289]

Hall, Eberle, Yakupov...............???

Hall, Eberle, Yakupov are shooters, goal scorers.........the only set up man is RNH.

With McDavid on board........he will be the perfect compliment to those three.

McDavid is not selfish so he can be the set up man for Hall, Eberle or Yakupov.

This will create two dangerous offensive lines for the Oilers.

 

[Byefooglien]

I agree with this. I think Hall has pretty good vision when he can get his head up, and is excellent at creating scoring opportunities for his linemates using his speed. But he's got very poor hands, which makes it harder for him to get his head up as quick as he'd probably like.

Can you please tell me (if you recall) of which games McDavid got knocked over in the corners while battling for puck possession? I've been re-watching some of the games on PVR and can't find a single instance of it. The only thing I notice is his elusiveness in separating himself from the d via his skating, or else maintaining the cycle by making a soft pass down to Lazar whenever the two D converge on him.

 

[Byefooglien]

Hall has led the Oilers in assists the previous two season to last one by a country mile. The only reason he didn't lead the team in assists again was he missed about 30 games, but even last year he had the highest assist per game rate on the team.

He's a pretty willing passer and most everyone on the team that plays on his line gets a boost in stats.

Even Yakupov played his best hockey not with RNH or Eberle but with Hall.

I find that the vast majority of his assists come off of rebounds/last touches in scrambles in front of the net. They aren't really an indication of his ability to make seeing-eye passes every shift like some of the elite play-makers of the league.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Can you please tell me (if you recall) of which games McDavid got knocked over in the corners while battling for puck possession? I've been re-watching some of the games on PVR and can't find a single instance of it. The only thing I notice is his elusiveness in separating himself from the d via his skating, or else maintaining the cycle by making a soft pass down to Lazar whenever the two D converge on him.

If my recollection is correct, the 2nd Slovakian game, the US game, and the Finland game. There's a few specific plays in my head but I'm not sure the opposition.

 

[Fourier]

Oilers fans are, once again, setting themselves up for disappointment.

There is no way he lives up to people's insane expectations, especially on one of the lowest scoring teams in the league.

You may want to look here before suggesting that the whole fan base has unrealistic expectations:

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=119293

 

[Thebesthockey]

Can you please tell me (if you recall) of which games McDavid got knocked over in the corners while battling for puck possession? I've been re-watching some of the games on PVR and can't find a single instance of it. The only thing I notice is his elusiveness in separating himself from the d via his skating, or else maintaining the cycle by making a soft pass down to Lazar whenever the two D converge on him.

pls dont compare a World juniors in which 3/4 of the teams have a hard time feilding a competitive team vs NHL players ready to rip your head off down low

just seeing yesterday Darnell Nurse handle him down low was something

keep things in perspective

nHL is " body first puck second"

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

Oilers fans are, once again, setting themselves up for disappointment.

There is no way he lives up to people's insane expectations, especially on one of the lowest scoring teams in the league.

HF board posters, once again, post generalizations that are completely false.

Most posters pumping up McDavid and/or the Oilers to ridiculous levels aren't even Oiler fans. Oiler fans are excited to have the best prospect since Crosby, but most aren't predicting anything crazy.

 

[Mc5RingsAndABeer]

Hall's biggest problem is his hockey IQ. He's a puck-hog winger with tunnel vision who doesn't know how to utilize teammates and elevate his game. As a Jets fan, I can say quite confidently that Hall is nothing more than a skilled version of E. Kane minus the physicality or grit.

McDavid is the full offensive package. There's a reason why he's cast as a generational talent on the same tier as Crosby. Would it also be wrong to call Crosby a vastly superior player to Phil Kessel?

As for the bolded, what? Eberle is a perennial 60-70 point guy, RNH is a former 1st overall pick who is developing into a dandy two-way center who can put up 60 points over a full year. You make it sound as if Hall plays for the Arizona Coyotes.

Yea...you don't watch Hall at all. That's like saying that Crosby is a more skilled Joel Ward.

Hall seemed to share the puck fine with Ebs and Crosby on Team Canada. If you actually look beyond just the point totals (even if it's just a few cm over to the "assist" column), you'll realize that he's an underrated playmaker.

 

[phrenssoa]

Hall's biggest problem is his hockey IQ. He's a puck-hog winger with tunnel vision who doesn't know how to utilize teammates and elevate his game. As a Jets fan, I can say quite confidently that Hall is nothing more than a skilled version of E. Kane minus the physicality or grit.

McDavid is the full offensive package. There's a reason why he's cast as a generational talent on the same tier as Crosby. Would it also be wrong to call Crosby a vastly superior player to Phil Kessel?

As for the bolded, what? Eberle is a perennial 60-70 point guy, RNH is a former 1st overall pick who is developing into a dandy two-way center who can put up 60 points over a full year. You make it sound as if Hall plays for the Arizona Coyotes.

Oh my, you are way off on Taylor Hall. The guy is an absolute beast when on his game, and much better than either RNH or Eberle when he wants to be. In fact, the stats show that he is quite the opposite of what you describe him as. Last year notwithstanding, Hall has always made his linemates better. The poster "eklunds source" has often brought up Eberle's and RNH's stats with/without Taylor Hall and the difference is quite staggering.

Hall makes his teammates better because he always gets the puck moving in the right direction, it's that simple. Sure, he may not have eyes on the back of his head like some of the elite playmakers, but he is extremely effective at creating offensive opportunities.

What's most baffling to me is the parallel that you made between him and Evander Kane... Hall blows that guy out of the water in terms of hockey IQ. Hall is also an underrated and better passer than Kane.

 

[CanadienShark]

My god McDavid is scary in the neutral and offensive zone, but if I only had this game to judge his talents I would say he was pretty awful defensively and I wouldn't exactly call Edmonton the place to improve that aspect of his game. Oilers are going to look very similar to Dallas next year. REALLY high scoring, but a lot of sad looks on the other side of ice.

Not trying to talk smack here, im sure over the course of a year or two his defensive game will start to round out and the Oilers will probably add more personnel with defense experience. Todd McClellan wasn't exactly known for his defensive coaching in San Jose.

Then you're living in the past (with the first bolded bit). With a coach like McLellan, McDavid's defensive game will grow immensely. I think you'r a little misinformed on McLellan, given his last season. He's a guy that demands a solid two way game out of his forwards. There's a reason why Pavelski, Marleau, Couture, Wingels, Thornton, Nieto, Karlsson, Tierney, etc. are all good defensively. Obviously it's not all due to McLellan, but I think he helped many of their defensive games.

 

[CanadienShark]

Some really nifty goals from McDavid !! I really can't wait to watch him play in his 1st NHL game against the Blues !!

From what I saw in the video, he had a couple moments where he got caught in the defensive zone but It might have just been that he wasn't really trying 100%. I guess he can always improve his defensive game if it needs a bit of tuning up.

Do fans, who were able to watch him before he was drafted, know if he is known to be a good 2 way player or is he solely known for his offensive skill set ?

Players with big offensive potential do tend to be a little weak on the defensive side of the game : Ovechkin, Mackinnon.

I won't pretend to be an expert, but I think he's been a solid defensive player for a couple of years. Never outstanding, but absolutely could be. He could be Fedorov in terms of versatility and impact, but even better in my mind. And coming from me, that's stupidly high praise considering Fedorov is easily my favourite player in the history of the game. His first OHL year, it was questionable, which isn't surprising. It seems like he worked on his defensive game thereafter.

 

[CanadienShark]

There was a funny moment when he and Nurse were both caught up ice and an opposing forward was coming in for a breakaway. Nurse started to hustle back a bit and McDavid just pushed him forward with his stick for a boost .

Video? I'd love to see this.

 

[BigBen]

Hall's biggest problem is his hockey IQ. He's a puck-hog winger with tunnel vision who doesn't know how to utilize teammates and elevate his game. As a Jets fan, I can say quite confidently that Hall is nothing more than a skilled version of E. Kane minus the physicality or grit.

McDavid is the full offensive package. There's a reason why he's cast as a generational talent on the same tier as Crosby. Would it also be wrong to call Crosby a vastly superior player to Phil Kessel?

As for the bolded, what? Eberle is a perennial 60-70 point guy, RNH is a former 1st overall pick who is developing into a dandy two-way center who can put up 60 points over a full year. You make it sound as if Hall plays for the Arizona Coyotes.

"As a jets fan who watches him play about 4 times a year"

Also a skilled version of Evander Kane would be a pretty awesome hockey player, which Hall is so there's a tiny bit of truth in what you said. Everything else is completely wrong and unsupported.

 

[McFlyingV]

Hall, Eberle, Yakupov are shooters, goal scorers.........the only set up man is RNH.

With McDavid on board........he will be the perfect compliment to those three.

McDavid is not selfish so he can be the set up man for Hall, Eberle or Yakupov.

This will create two dangerous offensive lines for the Oilers.

I don't agree that any of those guys are shooter/goal scorers with the exception of Yak. Hall and Eberle both have equally good play making compared to their goal scoring, and even Yak's play making is underrated, he just sometimes puts a little too much power on his passes.

I think RNH is as much a goal scorer as Hall and Eberle. All of 4 of them imo are equally capable goal scorers and play makers.

 

[Jagemon]

Not to mention, his coach is Todd Mclellan.

Oh the all mighty Todd Mclellan

 

[sld8987]

So McDavid scores 5( supposedly 4 are 'highlight reel' variety)in a development camp scrimmage and already on Sportsnet 360 they are saying hockey has never seen a player like this before.
.that he will be the greatest player ever
.that you can guarantee EDMONTON wins the Cup ...maybe not next year..but it will not be long. ..That some sloppy 8-6 scrimmage against mostly all not nhl players in a mere development camp where even on the video I saw it looked slow motion compared to the level we saw in the Cup Final with CHI and TB..from such a game in a development camp against mostly guys who never will be NHL ER. ..McDavid is allowed to score 5 by mostly no do dies and we are supposed to swallow that the Messiah has indeed arrived?How quickly they forget how a mere Jr. Team...Oshawa..bottled him up and made him look ineffectual...just awhile back at the Men Cup? Did EDM also include a scrimmage rule that no huge 6'4 225 lb Dmen were going to be allowed to.body slam him or even touch him while checking?

so they held a 17 year old off by letting him score at least a ppg except in the last game. And this was cassel a 20 year old and two 20 year old defenceman. What a bust. We should trade him for a bag of used socks right. Just because your golden boy toews will never break the 80 point barrier dont get all but hurt. And dont use the he has two cups argument because dustin penner has two. Its the team around you.

 

[rosemount289]

My friend we are talking...............???

I don't agree that any of those guys are shooter/goal scorers with the exception of Yak. Hall and Eberle both have equally good play making compared to their goal scoring, and even Yak's play making is underrated, he just sometimes puts a little too much power on his passes.

I think RNH is as much a goal scorer as Hall and Eberle. All of 4 of them imo are equally capable goal scorers and play makers.

My friend we are talking about "set up men" which means playing the center position. I believe Hall played some centre last two years and was left "wanting".

I am not talking about goal scoring nor setting up plays but about playing the centre position which RNH and McDavid are naturals.

 

[DraberlyakMcHallkins*]

Hall's biggest problem is his hockey IQ. He's a puck-hog winger with tunnel vision who doesn't know how to utilize teammates and elevate his game. As a Jets fan, I can say quite confidently that Hall is nothing more than a skilled version of E. Kane minus the physicality or grit.

doesn't utilize teammates? 53 assists last year? must be a lot more skilled, as he doubled Kane's production last year.

you should've stopped at "as a jets fan". you don't know