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

[PensBandwagonerNo272*]

Based on that, he looks like the best player in the league already. Then again, that Coyotes group is terrible, so I'll stick with my conservative prediction of 85 points this year (for now).

conservative

 

[izzy]

Based on that, he looks like the best player in the league already. Then again, that Coyotes group is terrible, so I'll stick with my conservative prediction of 85 points this year (for now).

Thats your conservative prediction?

 

[lawrence]

calling it right now, barring injury, he will lead his team in points. No offense towards any of the current oilers, but he is literally at a different level. It's kinda sad too, how Oilers 1st overalls, in the past is probably on paper, the "worst" ones if you actually rank all 1st overall picks in order from best to worst in the past 10 years, all 3 of them will go in the bottom with exception of connor McDavid who will save that franchise.

He's going to be special.

 

[KidLine93]

calling it right now, barring injury, he will lead his team in points. No offense towards any of the current oilers, but he is literally at a different level. It's kinda sad too, how Oilers 1st overalls, in the past is probably on paper, the "worst" ones if you actually rank all 1st overall picks in order from best to worst in the past 10 years, all 3 of them will go in the bottom with exception of connor McDavid who will save that franchise.

He's going to be special.

well Mackinnon will have to go top 10 in scoring for the next 2 seasons to match Hall.

 

[Snow Dog]

The kid skates better than kessel shoots.A bright future ahead.

 

[Alexandrov]

well Mackinnon will have to go top 10 in scoring for the next 2 seasons to match Hall.

Well, so does McDavid. I think they both have it in them.

 

[Beast Mowed]

Hes so incredible to watch. Simply on another level. He continues to put up points and look outstanding out there, but he still has to learn to shoot more. I think his problem is hes trying to be too nice and give the puck up to vets all the time. He needs to get a bit more selfish. My one suprise from his game is how complete it is. Hes already sound defensively and very aware out there. As he get more experience I wouldnt be surprised to see a selke nomination. Dont see too many rookies look as good defensively as him. He has a Fedorv-eque approach to his two way play were his speed and smarts can break up alot of plays

Other than that, his preseason has been unreal

Don't expect him to get selfish, it's not in his game.

 

[Aceboogie]

Don't expect him to get selfish, it's not in his game.

Not like aggressively selfish. But he was passing it off way, way more than when I saw him in Eerie. I think he doesnt want to rub teammates wrong way so is just giving them the puck all the time instead of shooting. He wont be a big shooter, but he needs to get it off sometimes

RNH was same way his rookie season. his shot was ok but he always passed. Every 2 on 1 he passed. Now hes a more selfish and hes not hesistant to rip on top shelf on the goalie if its there. His shot is lethal now too after adding some muscle, hopefully this happens for McDavid

 

[YEGJuniorFan]

Fedorov in his prime is what McDavid could be by the end of this season. He is incredible and the more I think of it, that comparison is bang on.

 

[Aceboogie]

Fedorov in his prime is what McDavid could be by the end of this season. He is incredible and the more I think of it, that comparison is bang on.

Love Mcdavid, but not a chance. Prime Federov was 100 pt player and selke winner. No chance Mcdavid gets there

Maybe prime McDavid matches

However more I watch Mcdavid is preseason and his already solid 2 way game, the more I like this comparison

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Who's McDavid been playing with most in the preseason? Who's he expected to start the season on a line with?

 

[duul]

Who's McDavid been playing with most in the preseason? Who's he expected to start the season on a line with?

He's mostly played with Hall. On the other wing he has had Draisaitl and Slepyshev. Hall has 0 points this preseason.

Honestly I'd love a line of Slepyshev-McDavid-Draisaitl but they are really trying to build chemistry with Hall and McDavid which I think will never show for much.

The game against Vancouver tonight will have Hall-McDavid-Draisaitl

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

He's mostly played with Hall. On the other wing he has had Draisaitl and Slepyshev. Hall has 0 points this preseason.

Honestly I'd love a line of Slepyshev-McDavid-Draisaitl but they are really trying to build chemistry with Hall and McDavid which I think will never show for much.

The game against Vancouver tonight will have Hall-McDavid-Draisaitl

I agree with the part about Hall. He's not a smart enough or selfless enough player to be effective with McDavid. I know Eberle is linked with RNH but honestly that will be the best fit.

Draisaitl - McDavid - Eberle
Slepyshev - RNH - Hall
Pouliot - Lander - Yakupov

 

[ChaoticOrange]

McDavid is so, so, SO disgustingly fast.

His brain is faster than his feet, though. You can see him going through every scenario in his head a dozen times before the puck gets to him. He thinks in some kind of hockey Matrix. It's unbelievable to watch.

 

[duul]

I agree with the part about Hall. He's not a smart enough or selfless enough player to be effective with McDavid. I know Eberle is linked with RNH but honestly that will be the best fit.

Draisaitl - McDavid - Eberle
Slepyshev - RNH - Hall
Pouliot - Lander - Yakupov

Hall excels with chaos and broken plays. McDavid excels with very clean plays. He skates down, makes a nice pass, and someone can score on a nice shot. Hall needs to crash the net and bulldoze his way through everything.

We have a bit of a conundrum with the Oilers team because last year our best line was Pouliot-RNH-Eberle. They showed very good chemistry but now Eberle is hurt and Hall isn't meshing with McDavid. I think you need to go with something like this:

Pouliot-McDavid-Eberle
Hall-RNH-Draisaitl
Slepyshev-Lander-Yakupov

It's really messed up and there are seemingly endless combinations that could work.

 

[Semantics]

Love Mcdavid, but not a chance. Prime Federov was 100 pt player and selke winner. No chance Mcdavid gets there

LOL!!!

Fedorov in 2016 would not even get close to 100 points. Crosby and Ovechkin are better players than Fedorov ever was and they couldn't even hit 90. He might get 80.

While there's no way McDavid will match Fedorov's defense, I think he can certainly match his offense and skating. I don't think most coaches would even want McDavid prioritizing defense to the point of being Selke caliber, he's just too much of an offensive threat to be playing it safe and not taking offensive chances.

 

[Aceboogie]

LOL!!!

Fedorov in 2016 would not even get close to 100 points. Crosby and Ovechkin are better players than Fedorov ever was and they couldn't even hit 90. He might get 80.

While there's no way McDavid will match Fedorov's defense, I think he can certainly match his offense and skating. I don't think most coaches would even want McDavid prioritizing defense to the point of being Selke caliber, he's just too much of an offensive threat to be playing it safe and not taking offensive chances.

120 points in 93 is probaly 90 points today. Thats like saying Mcdavid will hit 90 points and win a selke either this year or next, he wont.

McDavid is no slouch defensively and hes already looking super solid as an 18 year old. He has the smarts, skill and speed to be very good defensively. However no player can be totally dominant defensively and offensively. You have to give some defense up in order to excel offensively. So I think Mcdavid will look very good defensively, but never match Federov.

 

[Nugey McNugeson]

He's playing great so far, showing his speed and also his chemistry with Hall

 

[habsrule4eva3089]

Does McJesus remind anyone of this kid?

 

[Paxon]

Does McJesus remind anyone of this kid?

Yep. We've talked about it on the Sabres board in the past. Gilbert was well before my time but I've seen pretty much every available archival game of his w/ the Sabres and in international play. It's a very good comparison the way they end-to-end rush.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Not a great 3rd period for the Oilers. McDavid created a couple of chances but seemed to be struggling to beat defenders like he's used to. It's great that he's challenging defenders with his speed, but he needs to get a bit more creative than just flying to the outside. Eventually, he'll have to start shooting to keep D honest, or else they'll just keep backing in until he's out of real estate.

 

[Montag DP]

Not a great 3rd period for the Oilers. McDavid created a couple of chances but seemed to be struggling to beat defenders like he's used to. It's great that he's challenging defenders with his speed, but he needs to get a bit more creative than just flying to the outside. Eventually, he'll have to start shooting to keep D honest, or else they'll just keep backing in until he's out of real estate.

Okay, admittedly I've only seen probably about 5 games with McDavid, but I don't ever recall seeing him shoot. That is, other than putting it in the net from a few feet out. And I know that in juniors he didn't often need to do anything else because he could pretty much fool the goalie every time. But can anyone who has seen more of him comment on his shot? Seems like it is definitely a weapon he will need to possess in order to reach his potential at the NHL level.

Specifically, I'm interested in examples of him shooting from the offensive zone faceoff circle or thereabouts. Highlights would be ideal.

 

[fancy dan]

what i hadn't expected and what has been perhaps more amazing to me has been his defensive game. kid is so fast and smart defensively it's incredible to watch and an amazing feat for an 18 year old in the NHL.

 

[Draw Me a McElephant]

Okay, admittedly I've only seen probably about 5 games with McDavid, but I don't ever recall seeing him shoot. That is, other than putting it in the net from a few feet out. And I know that in juniors he didn't often need to do anything else because he could pretty much fool the goalie every time. But can anyone who has seen more of him comment on his shot? Seems like it is definitely a weapon he will need to possess in order to reach his potential at the NHL level.

Specifically, I'm interested in examples of him shooting from the offensive zone faceoff circle or thereabouts. Highlights would be ideal.

He definitely doesn't shoot enough, but he seemed to be doing it more in the playoffs last year. He had a few nice snipes.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Okay, admittedly I've only seen probably about 5 games with McDavid, but I don't ever recall seeing him shoot. That is, other than putting it in the net from a few feet out. And I know that in juniors he didn't often need to do anything else because he could pretty much fool the goalie every time. But can anyone who has seen more of him comment on his shot? Seems like it is definitely a weapon he will need to possess in order to reach his potential at the NHL level.

Specifically, I'm interested in examples of him shooting from the offensive zone faceoff circle or thereabouts. Highlights would be ideal.

I'm on my phone so no dice on highlights, but he's got a pretty decent shot IMO, underrated. But its not the type of shot that will beat NHL goalies from beyond the circles.

He's either got to start shooting the puck more often from the outside, or get better at finding open ice / soft spots without the puck, which has been my #1 criticism of his offensive game since he was 15. It's the only part of his offensive game that isn't generational. But its not a trivial skill, and it is what separates him from Crosby more than anything.

A great player like him won't be able to rely on beating defenders and breakaways to get his goals, he's going to get way too much attention and today's defenses are just too good. He's already a top 5 playmaker, but I'm sure most would have hoped for at least 1 goal through his first 4 preseason games.