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

[do0glas]

Mcdavid was pretty quiet in the Canuck game without the Sedins as well. He did grab an assist though. Lots of blind crease passes, guess one will go in now and then lol.

Like many have said he and hall don't really click. He needs a forechecker and a finisher

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Agreed. He'll be just fine. But anyone expecting him to be among the best players from day 1 (and that this is just a drought) might be disappointed.

well that WAS the consensus in many many threads by many many fans... but people have been changing their tunes a lot lately as exhibition games go on and being way more realistic. Its way too tough nowadays for a young kid to come in and dominate. Even 4th line players are way too good now and in tip top shape and ridiculously skilled in the NHL... things are different now and I really don't think a rookie will come in anymore and put up huge points.

He is on a team where they have many skilled forwards that are heavily relied on to put up points (Hall, RNH, Yak, Eberle etc etc) and the need to have a huge offensive year so points will be spread amongst them all therefor I just don't see real high point total for McDavid....

but having good point totals spread amongst a lot of players may be better than just having a couple guys with high totals and others having seasons that fans refer to as disappointing offensive seasons

Oh and Ill throw this in, I think RNH is gonna have a huge season and steal the show in Oil town

 

[seabass11]

well that WAS the consensus in many many threads by many many fans... but people have been changing their tunes a lot lately as exhibition games go on and being way more realistic.

Which just goes to show how stupid some people are. He hasn't even played ONE regular season game yet???

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

I think he's played pretty good. Nothing has changed in my eyes. I mean, how many points did Crosby get in his first preseason action? How did people respond to that performance?
But the back and forth between the extremists who went overboard with the hype around McDavid and those with the backlash against the hype was inevitable though.

 

[Johnny McBravo]

The biggest thing I took from the preseason is that his defensive play was wayyyy better than I thought it was. Todd Mac isn't afraid to put Connor on the pk, which is a good sign.

 

[Get North]

It's pretty funny that we think he was "quiet" or not as good as advertised but still finished with PPG. Against Vancouver, despite not having a stellar game, he was playing in the offensive zone the whole time basically. His speed opens up so much space that he can just walk into the zone easily.

He's adjusting to the NHL and playing differently than his first game. Playing more of a pro style game than a junior game where he can make the big play.

 

[McFlyingV]

It's pretty funny that we think he was "quiet" or not as good as advertised but still finished with PPG. Against Vancouver, despite not having a stellar game, he was playing in the offensive zone the whole time basically. His speed opens up so much space that he can just walk into the zone easily.

He's adjusting to the NHL and playing differently than his first game. Playing more of a pro style game than a junior game where he can make the big play.

Exactly, and even though he was quiet he still created a couple grade A chances. He feathered a beautiful saucer pass in front to Slepyshev who was tied up and didn't get much on the shot and I also recall him throwing another to Slepy who wasn't in a ready position to onetime it from the left side. Either way you can't expect him to be the best player on the ice every game, not even Crosby is.

Imo McDavid and Hall just isn't working well enough and I wouldn't mind Hall either moving onto Nuges line or playing 3rd line with Lander. He's shown he can produce with just about anyone on his lines so you might as well spread the wealth and let McDavid be the prime puck carrier on his line. I think McDavid would look best with some combination of Pouliot, Yakupov, Eberle, or Draisaitl on his lines.

Also McDavid's 2-way game is already very good. He stripped and rushed a lot of plays in the neutral zone last night, saved a more than likely goal on a beautiful intercept on a back door pass. He just knows where to be and where his stick should be at all times, and his speed on the back check is so good for stealing pucks.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Hall is a difficult guy to gel with, outside of Eberle he doesn't gel with many other players on our team. If he meshed with Hall it will be a testament to how good of a player he is IMO.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

It's pretty funny that we think he was "quiet" or not as good as advertised but still finished with PPG. Against Vancouver, despite not having a stellar game, he was playing in the offensive zone the whole time basically. His speed opens up so much space that he can just walk into the zone easily.

He's adjusting to the NHL and playing differently than his first game. Playing more of a pro style game than a junior game where he can make the big play.

To be fair, he was PPG in preseason against teams that were mostly icing AHL teams, and one of his assists was an EN goal.

I don't think scoring only 2 primary assists against sub-NHL talent met expectations. And he was increasingly invisible as the team's got better.

Like I said, he'll do just fine, but its not like he was quiet yet still performed well statistically, given the level of competition. He was quiet in his last 2 games and didn't create too much.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I haven't had a chance to see McDavid in preseason yet. Are guys targeting him with physical play yet?

That's my only question is how he will hold up under the immense targeting, but he has dealt with that most of his life. I remember Crosby had a rough go early on, getting his tooth chipped and being abused badly for the first few weeks of his rookie year, but he got through it.

 

[JA]

More hype this week:

http://www.nj.com/flyers/index.ssf/2015/09/connor_mcdavid_a_hart_favorite_already_here_are_nh.html

Connor McDavid a Hart favorite already? Here are NHL Awards odds
By Randy Miller
on September 30, 2015 at 9:08 AM, updated September 30, 2015 at 9:42 AM

Connor McDavid mania has hit the NHL, and people are expecting the Edmonton Oilers 18-year-old center to be great right away.

Called a second coming off Sidney Crosby, McDavid is oddsmaker Bovada's overwhelming favorite to win the Calder Trophy this season as the league's rookie of the year.

That's no surprise, but the 2015 first overall pick already being among their favorites to win the Hart Trophy as league MVP is.

Two-time Hart winner Crosby was given the best odds to win again, but McDavid was given 18/1 odds by Bovada ... better odds than the likes of Chicago Blackhawks superstar Jonathan Toews (25/1), Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (28/1) and Anaheim Ducks right wing Corey Perry (22/1), the 2011 Hart winner.

McDavid has looked like the real deal in limited preseason action, as he put up consecutive two-point nights in his first two games.

Here's a look at Bovada's odds to win 2016 NHL Awards:

HART TROPHY

(MVP)

1. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh 7/2

2. Alexander Ovechkin, Washington 6/1

3. John Tavares, NY Islanders 17/2

4. Jamie Benn, Dallas 10/1

4. Carey Price, Montreal 10/1

4. Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay 10/1

7. Tyler Seguin, Dallas 11/1

8. Claude Giroux, Flyers 12/1

9. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh 15/1

10 .Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim 18/1

10. Connor McDavid, Edmonton 18/1

12. Ryan Johansen, Columbus 22/1

12. Corey Perry, Anaheim 22/1

14. Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles 25/1

14. Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis 25/1

14. Jonathan Toews, Chicago 25/1

17. Henrik Lundqvist, NY Rangers 28/1

17. Max Pacioretty, Montreal 28/1

19. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles 40/1

20. Drew Doughty, Los Angeles 50/1

20. Erik Karlsson, Ottawa 50/1

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/will-we-ever-understand-what-makes-connor-mcdavid-tick/

Will we ever understand what makes Connor McDavid tick?
Stephen Brunt October 4, 2015, 8:43 AM

...

Connor McDavid may turn out to be the most interesting guy in the world. He may be as naturally shy in front of the cameras as Orr was (try to find that interview with Ward Cornell when Orr was still a General, where you can see him almost shaking) or as remarkably self-possessed as 13-year-old Wayne Gretzky, sitting down to chat with Peter Gzowski. He may be somewhere in the middle.

But with all the insulation between him and the hockey-loving public—with all those layers of agents and advisers, with the media training designed to avoid controversy and leach out originality, having learned the Sidney Crosby trick of being available and fulfilling his obligations and being sure to say nothing interesting at all—who’s ever going to know what makes him tick?

...

Gretzky, the beginning of whose career nearly abutted the end of Orr’s, arrived in a fundamentally different hockey and media landscape. But he chose to live in public, to allow his private life to become grist for the mythology mill. His wedding in Edmonton was right there for all to see. You knew about his folks, you knew about his wife and his kids, and you knew he could face difficult questions but avoid damage the way he did on the ice when a goon was bearing down on him. Nothing landed, nothing bad ever stuck.

The few who have since borne the mantle of not just the best player in the game, but of a player who on some level transcends the sport, have handled things their own way, with ever-decreasing levels of intimacy. Mario Lemieux succeeded in remaining unknowable even while battling back from injury, and from cancer. Crosby, who had the spotlight shining on him at an earlier age than anyone before, found a way to maintain distance even as his every move was being tracked—even in the era of social media. Consider how much you’ve seen him, consider the books, the commercials, the Olympic microscope, then consider how little you really know about him.

The new kid arrives with a slightly lighter load on his shoulders. Orr was the poster boy during the great 1960s expansion, and Gretzky for a whole other renegade league before becoming the NHL’s Sunbelt stalking horse. Crosby was there to make everyone forget the dead-puck era—and to make sure Canada won that gold medal on home soil.

McDavid merely has to revive a once-great franchise, keep the dollars flowing in a brand-new arena and prove right off the hop that there’s a gap between him and the game’s other young stars, who are great but not historically great. Soon enough, he’ll be expected to supplant Sid, who has reached mid-career, and whose numbers suggest he might already be taking the first steps down the other side of the mountain.

He’s already famous, he’s rich and will get much richer—there’s a cadre in his employ whose job is to make sure of that. Nothing on the hockey side suggests that he isn’t up to the task on the ice—or even that there will be much of learning curve.

...

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/connor-mcdavid-bring-superstar-swagger-back-to-edmonton-1.3254176

Connor McDavid ready to bring superstar swagger back to Edmonton
Open their season Oct. 8 in St. Louis
By Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press Posted: Oct 02, 2015 12:16 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 02, 2015 1:02 PM ET

Next Thursday, in the shadow of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, it's showtime for the kid who wears his birth year on his back.

Connor McDavid — with his No. 97 jersey, soft hands and otherworldly playmaking skills — will suit up for the Oilers season opener against the Blues and take his first step toward fulfilling predictions as hockey's Next Big Thing.

...

Because of McDavid, it has become the most anticipated season in the Alberta capital since the Wayne Gretzky era.

You knew Edmonton was cuckoo for Connor just days after he was drafted No. 1 overall in the June entry draft, when 3,000 people showed up in the heat of July to cheer him on as he stretched and shot pucks into an empty net at Rexall Place.

He comes with eye-popping junior scoring numbers (285 points in 166 games), and leaves hardened hockey observers groping to explain how he does it.

He seems to accelerate while he's gliding, a shinny grandmaster who sees the game in slow motion, with eight gears and eyes in the back of his head.

...

From April:


Lebrun reiterated his opinion this week:

http://www.todaysslapshot.com/from-the-ice/lebrun-on-mcdavid-i-think-this-is-sidney-crosby-2-0/

LeBrun on McDavid: “I Think This is Sidney Crosby 2.0″
September 28, 2015

Pierre LeBrun was on Edmonton’s TSN 1260 on Monday afternoon.

On Connor McDavid:

“I think he’s going to have a – I think this is Sidney Crosby 2.0, and I’m sure everyone from the Oilers front office just cringed as they’re listening to this, if they are, but I really do think that this is the first time since ’05-6 that we’re going to have this kind of rookie season. Of course Crosby didn’t win the Calder that year because Alex Ovechkin – it was his rookie year as well, and Alex was older.

“But I think that you’re going to get a very special year. I’m not trying to heighten the hype and the pressure on the young man, but I was there in the room with the rest of my ESPN.com cohorts in early September in Toronto during the media/player tour when Stamkos said what he said about Connor McDavid and I know he’s tried to diffuse that quote since, but we asked him three times in that room if he was serious about what he said, and he said, ‘Yes.’ “

Connor truly has been built up to be The Next One.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

^^..god I feel bad for this kid... I am honestly worried about this non stop hype. Cant tell me it doesn't screw with your mind reading all this stuff if you are him.

 

[Soundwave]

He'll be fine. Fact is fans and reporters can scream/chant whatever they want. They don't play the game and they don't impact the game.

Connor will develop and learn the game on his terms and go from there.

People lost their minds when Stamkos had a bad start to his career too, eventually all that hysteria died down.

If some people want to have unrealistic expectations and then cry to high heaven about it afterwards, that's their problem.

Even during the Olympics I remember my friend was on my case because I had a Crosby Canada jersey, and Crosby didn't do squat in the tournament .... until the very last game when you-know-what happened. And yes, that was awfully delicious.

 

[Get North]

To be fair, he was PPG in preseason against teams that were mostly icing AHL teams, and one of his assists was an EN goal.

I don't think scoring only 2 primary assists against sub-NHL talent met expectations. And he was increasingly invisible as the team's got better.

Like I said, he'll do just fine, but its not like he was quiet yet still performed well statistically, given the level of competition. He was quiet in his last 2 games and didn't create too much.

If we're going to talk about how EN assists shouldn't count or have little value (which is what you're basically saying) then I can say he could have had a hat-trick, 2-3 more assists, etc. A point is a point, I hate when people discredit points because they are so many variables. Do you filter out EN points at the end of the season to determine who had "more points?"

Now you're using primary assists. Are you kidding me? **** dude, make an award for primary assists, secondary assists, least amount of EN points, etc. This is ridiculous. A point is a point, there's no proof that a primary assist is more valuable than a secondary. I would argue a secondary assist is more important because that starts the play. But I think it's ******** anyways and has no value in hockey because they are too many variables in the game.

I'm not going to get into a discussion with ******** stats. He didn't have many points to show for his play but he was in the offensive zone basically every time he was on the ice.

 

[BigBush*]

Hall is a difficult guy to gel with, outside of Eberle he doesn't gel with many other players on our team. If he meshed with Hall it will be a testament to how good of a player he is IMO.

He's a turnover machine who doesnt use his linemates well, no wonder other players struggle to gel with Hall

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

haha that's a funny tweet by Pierre Lebrun

 

[Soundwave]

Bottom line is in 5 pre-season games he had 5 points and was like a +4.

Shame on your Connor.

 

[Soundwave]

He's a turnover machine who doesnt use his linemates well, no wonder other players struggle to gel with Hall

Who also generates a lot of chances and is actually an underrated playmaker. He just takes a little while to get used to play with. That's just how it goes.

The main problem with Hall and McDavid is they both like to carry the puck, that's more the issue than anything.

McDavid + Draisaitl worked really well, but Draisaitl doesn't really like carrying the puck, that's not his game.

 

[JA]

He'll be fine. Fact is fans and reporters can scream/chant whatever they want. They don't play the game and they don't impact the game.

Connor will develop and learn the game on his terms and go from there.

People lost their minds when Stamkos had a bad start to his career too, eventually all that hysteria died down.

If some people want to have unrealistic expectations and then cry to high heaven about it afterwards, that's their problem.

Even during the Olympics I remember my friend was on my case because I had a Crosby Canada jersey, and Crosby didn't do squat in the tournament .... until the very last game when you-know-what happened. And yes, that was awfully delicious.

Very few players ever justify being labelled "The Next One." People have been labeling him this for years.

I don't think he will ever "transcend the sport," blow away his competition, and live up to that title.









He will be considered "The Next One" until he is not. It will be impossible to live up to these expectations. The consensus for the past few years has been that he would supplant Sidney Crosby as the league's best player and potentially cement his place among the likes of Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux.

A lot of people will inevitably be disappointed. The expectation and the reality are far different from one another.

 

[mpp9]

I'm no scout, but watching video of him, he needs work on his shot to beat NHL goalies clean and fill out his frame. In addition to the normal, "adjusting to the speed of the NHL".

Really hope Canada doesn't ruin this kid.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I haven't had a chance to see McDavid in preseason yet. Are guys targeting him with physical play yet?

That's my only question is how he will hold up under the immense targeting, but he has dealt with that most of his life. I remember Crosby had a rough go early on, getting his tooth chipped and being abused badly for the first few weeks of his rookie year, but he got through it.

He's been pushed around a bit for sure. Doesn't seem to be the kind of guy who likes getting hit, very different from Crosby in that regard, who thrived off of high contact play.

 

[Tarus]

I'm no scout, but watching video of him, he needs work on his shot to beat NHL goalies clean and fill out his frame. In addition to the normal, "adjusting to the speed of the NHL".

Really hope Canada doesn't ruin this kid.

Unlikely he'll be ruined

The worst that will happen is a deludge of "McDavid isn't living up to expectations" articles if/when he doesn't match up to the inflated hype the media guys are pushing before the season starts.

 

[JA]

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nhl/florida-panthers/article25538527.html

Comparison to ‘Great One’ has Oilers fans excited by Connor McDavid
By George Richards
June 25, 2015

Connor McDavid sat in the Panthers’ locker room at the team’s training facility in Coral Springs on Thursday afternoon, more than a dozen media members surrounding his temporary stall.

If McDavid thought the attention was focused on him before, just wait until he gets to Edmonton.

“I think our fans were a little at the end of their run with this team and then they got this golden ticket,” said Bob Stauffer, Edmonton’s radio color analyst.

“They know how good he is. This guy is going to be the best player in the NHL in three to five years. I don’t think we’ve seen his combination of speed and skill and his vision is off the charts. He’s going to make everyone else better.’’

...

Although McDavid has often been compared to Sidney Crosby, the savior of a once-downtrodden Pittsburgh squad, now that he’s moving to Edmonton he has been compared to someone else.

In Edmonton, no one gets compared to Wayne Gretzky, the “Great One” who helped bring four Stanley Cups to Edmonton, and the mention of his trade to Los Angeles in 1988 still brings up great angst.

Yet McDavid and Gretzky are now mentioned in the same breath.

“People are bouncing off the walls in Edmonton,” said Marty Klinkenberg, who has been assigned the task of following McDavid this year for Canada’s Globe and Mail.

“A lot of people say he’s the best player to come out since Crosby and maybe even since Gretzky. The prospects are exciting, people are excited.”

...

Although it’s a given Edmonton is taking McDavid first, he still said he doesn’t know what will happen Friday night.

Gretzky’s No.99 might be the most popular jersey at Oilers’ games at aging Rexall Place but that will soon change.

...

http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/nhl/top-nhl-prospect-connor-mcdavid-prepared-for-draft-year-hype-as-hockeys-latest-next-one

Is Connor McDavid better than Sidney Crosby?
Stephen Whyno, The Canadian Press | October 15, 2014 11:09 PM ET

...

No matter where he plays, the 17-year-old McDavid attracts attention. He’s being touted as “The Next One” and is the front-runner to go first overall in the 2015 NHL draft as a once-in-a-generation talent. Experiencing a lifetime of hockey hype before turning 18 has prepared McDavid for every bit of what he’s facing in his draft year. He’s conditioned to deflect the attention rather than absorb it.

...

Dominating hockey is still fun for McDavid. But being unquestionably the best player in junior hockey and the presumptive No. 1 pick sometimes comes at the cost of what he called “crazy and unreachable” expectations. Those abilities have him atop arguably the strongest draft class in a decade and are so tantalizing that struggling NHL teams are hoping to win the McDavid derby and punch their ticket back to prominence.

McDavid “already has NHL abilities,” according to McKee. But with several months to sharpen his game before the top league in the world comes calling, he’s just getting started.

McDavid doesn’t remember the first time someone compared him to Crosby. Eleven months after Sportsnet Magazine’s cover showed him with the headline, “Better than Crosby,” the 17-year-old still thinks it was “pretty insane.”

“It’s obviously a tremendous honour to be named in the same breath with someone like that,” McDavid said. “But by no means do I think I’m deserving.”

Scouts disagree. In revealing the International Scouting Service pre-season rankings, director Dennis MacInnins said: “Having the chance to scout Sidney Crosby at the same age, McDavid is even more impressive, true superstar potential.” McKee sees the same things. He played with Crosby on the 2009-10 Pittsburgh Penguins and that was when the pride of Cole Harbour, N.S., was already grown up at 22 and in the middle of a run that included a Stanley Cup and Olympic gold medal.

“The comparables between him and Sid, it’s everything,” McKee said. “It’s the way he works off the ice, the way he communicates in the dressing room, the work ethic he puts out on the ice in practice. …

“Sid’s a hard-working guy that leads by example on and off the ice and he’s very humble, very quiet, not real flashy. Connor’s the kind of guy when he scores goals he’s not out there riding his stick or celebrating in fancy fashion, he just wants to get the job done.”

...

Lauded for his vision, McDavid isn’t quite sure where it came from or how it developed. Shrugging but smiling, he said: “I guess I’m an OK passer.”

That’s kind of like LeBron James saying he’s an OK basketball player. Take it from Brown, who enjoyed a 45-goal, 128-point season alongside McDavid: along with speed and creativity, passing is what makes him great.

...

 

[JA]

Those who haven't seen McDavid yet can watch all of his shifts from his last two preseason games here:



Oilers Archivist has released a shift-by-shift video for each of his last two games. Evaluate for yourselves.

 

[habsrule4eva3089]

He is not better then Crosby overall. Crosby is a once in a lifetime athlete which we might not see again in the history of modern era Hockey.

The hype will die down after people realize McDavid's talents are generational but even he will not reach the level of play of #87.