C Connor McDavid - Erie Otters, OHL (2015 Draft) V

[RoyalGremlin]

Hard to find game to game highlights on McDavid, it's a shame. Even Eichel has his own tracker. Anyone know where I can find more highlights or a compilation of all his points this year so far?

 

[DrJenniferHanson]

I don't follow the OHL. How many times has 2.5 PPG been done in the last ten to fifteen years?

Kane and Schremp. Then you'd have to go back to the 89-94 era with Fogarty, Drulia, Pearson, Lindros, Peake, and Allison.

 

[PensFreak]

Hard to find game to game highlights on McDavid, it's a shame. Even Eichel has his own tracker. Anyone know where I can find more highlights or a compilation of all his points this year so far?

The Erie Otters has a youtube channel, I believe they upload all the goals both teams scored from their games a day or two after the game is played. Nothing like a McDavid-specific highlight reel, but that's the best you'll get.

 

[UpsideHockey]

Another excerpt to cement E-Mac's case as becoming "The Next One" is not a given...

"In addition, there are three key things about Connor McDavid, the person, that make you think that any bumps on the road to superstardom will be surmounted.

Normalness – Even with the incredible hype that has pursued Connor McDavid since he was awarded exceptional status to play in the OHL at 15, Connor still comes across as a normal yet mature kid, the kind of kid who could live next door you wouldn’t even mind if your daughter dated.
Leadership – Connor is captain of the Erie Otters. He is a natural leader who leads by example and by showing a caring, nurturing mature attitude to his fellow players on and off the ice. He is a player others want to be around and to follow.
Intelligence – One thing that most people gloss over about Connor McDavid is that he is incredibly intelligent – you don’t get to be CHL Scholastic Player of the Year at 16 if you are not."

 

[Frosty415]

87 pts in 35 games.

 

[ehhteen]

This guy is posting numbers that you get in EA Sports video games. Unreal.

 

[MilanKraft*]

He can score a 1000 points in the ohl but he won't even score a 100 points in the nhl in one year...

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Surprised to see how much he's slowed down.

Prior to WJC: 18 gp 51 pts 2.83 ppg
Since WJC: 17 gp 36 pts 2.11 ppg

I've only seen him play 3 games since the WJC. For those watching more closely, has there been a noticeable change? Is the injury still bothering him possibly? I believe Marner has scored at a similar rate over the last bit here.

 

[Finnished]

Surprised to see how much he's slowed down.

Prior to WJC: 18 gp 51 pts 2.83 ppg
Since WJC: 17 gp 36 pts 2.11 ppg

I've only seen him play 3 games since the WJC. For those watching more closely, has there been a noticeable change? Is the injury still bothering him possibly? I believe Marner has scored at a similar rate over the last bit here.

Just a guess but after some point having 3-4 point nights gotta start feeling a bit pointless Seriously, I think the injury is still bothering him a bit and maybe teams have adjusted to his dominance.

 

[TychoFan]

I only saw him against the 67's, him and Strome just played with them. xD 7-2, 3 points each, neither even seemed to be hustling too much. I can imagine that effort/motivation could definitely be a factor. I can see why he would want to try to beat some records but I don't know if that's a priority of his.

 

[Morning Dart]

Just a guess but after some point having 3-4 point nights gotta start feeling a bit pointless Seriously, I think the injury is still bothering him a bit and maybe teams have adjusted to his dominance.

Saw him against Guelph in January, scored a nice goal, but to be honest it didn't even look like he was trying out there. So obviously the best player on the ice, maybe it is just getting boring for him.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I just find it odd and a bit concerning. Crosby was continuing to improve and dominate as the season went on. He led his team to a 30+ game unbeaten streak to finish the season and into the playoffs, averaging almost 3 ppg over that period.

He didn't look bored, he looked hungry to win every night. You would hope McDavid would bring the same.

 

[Halfy]

Every game I've seen since the WJC, he's been dominant. Has had some trouble finishing and teammates finishing.

 

[RoyalGremlin]

Let's just wait till the playoffs come around, he'll start tearing it up.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Every game I've seen since the WJC, he's been dominant. Has had some trouble finishing and teammates finishing.

I'm not questioning his dominance, I'm asking about his competitiveness really. In comparison to Sid, he never got bored winning, where as the comments in this thread makes it sounds like McDavid has. That would be far more concerning than his drop in productivity.

 

[SAK11]

I just find it odd and a bit concerning. Crosby was continuing to improve and dominate as the season went on. He led his team to a 30+ game unbeaten streak to finish the season and into the playoffs, averaging almost 3 ppg over that period.

He didn't look bored, he looked hungry to win every night. You would hope McDavid would bring the same.

From what I've seen, he's still giving plenty of effort, and is still producing at a ridiculous rate. Scoring over two points a night is still impressive. Last night he could of had 3-4 assists with some better finishing from his teammates.

He's scored in 12 of those 17 games, and has points in all of them. He's been fine. More than anything, those early season numbers were not sustainable, and he's coming off a tournament where the games were of a much higher intensity, going back to regular season OHL games could be tough, Domi's stats seem to suggest that.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

OK so what's the truth?

I asked about his lack of production and Finnished, Tycho, and Brandonholmes all indicated that he's not trying all that hard or he's become bored.

I then raised this lack of effort/boredom as a potential issue, and now TanksPavs and SAK11 claim he's been playing hard and was just over performing earlier in the season.

So is a 2.8 PPG player who is just bored/ disinterested? Or is he more like the 2.1 PPG player he has been since the WJCs?

 

[SAK11]

OK so what's the truth?

I asked about his lack of production and Finnished, Tycho, and Brandonholmes all indicated that he's not trying all that hard or he's become bored.

I then raised this lack of effort/boredom as a potential issue, and now TanksPavs and SAK11 claim he's been playing hard and was just over performing earlier in the season.

So is a 2.8 PPG player who is just bored/ disinterested? Or is he more like the 2.1 PPG player he has been since the WJCs?

I think you're overreacting to his post world junior stats, his play has still been top notch. You call it lack of production, but he's scoring over 2 points per game and he's still scoring goals at virtually the same rate. 2.83 PPG all year would have meant even outscoring Crosby during his last junior season.

Of the 3 posters you list who say he's "not trying all that hard or he's become bored," it seems to me that you're exaggerating their beliefs to fit into the myth that you seem to want to be true, that McDavid isn't trying.

Finnished did not even say that he saw him play, and what he posted seemed to be more of a guess than anything. He also mentions that he believes teams are keying in on him and that his injury is still a factor, but you don't seem to want to focus on that.

brandonholmes saw him play one game against a team that has given him trouble the past 2 seasons. I'm not sure I'd base a hypothesis on such a small sample size.

Tycho also only saw one game, a game that Erie dominated all the way through [a game that I watched too], and a game that doesn't fit your belief that he's slowing down since he put up 3 points that afternoon.

He's an offensive player who's scored points in every game during the period of time you are questioning. I actually agree with Finnished that teams are keying in on him quite a bit, even McDavid said he's never had a team all over him like Kingston was in late January when he only had 1 assist.

Playing twice against Guelph and once versus SSM after the break also hurts his points per game, those are two of the better, veteran filled teams in this league, both of whom have keyed in on McDavid and have given him trouble the last two years.
Last year vs Guelph, playoffs included, he had 8 points in 9 games. Versus SSM, he had 7 points in 6 games.
Or, to make it more clear, that's 15 points in 15 games against those two teams and 103 points in 55 games against everyone else.

I'm curious, you said you've seen him play 3 games since the World Juniors, what's your take on him? I see him creating plenty of offense, skating hard, and putting up points. What do you see that would make you question him, or is it just the PPG that has you worried?

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I think you're overreacting to his post world junior stats, his play has still been top notch. You call it lack of production, but he's scoring over 2 points per game and he's still scoring goals at virtually the same rate. 2.83 PPG all year would have meant even outscoring Crosby during his last junior season.

Of the 3 posters you list who say he's "not trying all that hard or he's become bored," it seems to me that you're exaggerating their beliefs to fit into the myth that you seem to want to be true, that McDavid isn't trying.

Finnished did not even say that he saw him play, and what he posted seemed to be more of a guess than anything. He also mentions that he believes teams are keying in on him and that his injury is still a factor, but you don't seem to want to focus on that.

brandonholmes saw him play one game against a team that has given him trouble the past 2 seasons. I'm not sure I'd base a hypothesis on such a small sample size.

Tycho also only saw one game, a game that Erie dominated all the way through [a game that I watched too], and a game that doesn't fit your belief that he's slowing down since he put up 3 points that afternoon.

He's an offensive player who's scored points in every game during the period of time you are questioning. I actually agree with Finnished that teams are keying in on him quite a bit, even McDavid said he's never had a team all over him like Kingston was in late January when he only had 1 assist.

Playing twice against Guelph and once versus SSM after the break also hurts his points per game, those are two of the better, veteran filled teams in this league, both of whom have keyed in on McDavid and have given him trouble the last two years.
Last year vs Guelph, playoffs included, he had 8 points in 9 games. Versus SSM, he had 7 points in 6 games.
Or, to make it more clear, that's 15 points in 15 games against those two teams and 103 points in 55 games against everyone else.

I'm curious, you said you've seen him play 3 games since the World Juniors, what's your take on him? I see him creating plenty of offense, skating hard, and putting up points. What do you see that would make you question him, or is it just the PPG that has you worried?

To me, he's looked just as engaged as ever, and has looked just as dominant as ever. But I only saw him play 3 times, which is why I was asking for the opinion of others who have kept a closer eye on him. I hadn't noticed a drop in play but wasn't sure if his play outside of my viewings was different.

He's still producing at an elite level, but he's not blowing the competition away from a productivity perspective.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

He's an offensive player who's scored points in every game during the period of time you are questioning. I actually agree with Finnished that teams are keying in on him quite a bit, even McDavid said he's never had a team all over him like Kingston was in late January when he only had 1 assist.

I'm surprised more teams don't do what Kingston tried to do against him. They had Lammikko literally not do anything other than follow him around the ice. McDavid still got open for chances (he's that good), but it limited his overall effectiveness.

The last time I remember seeing that kind of actual shadowing was Dubinsky in the playoffs last year against Crosby. It was reminiscent of back in the day when Gretzky would have a guy literally skate everywhere he did, even when he wasn't even near the puck.

 

[TheGuyInTheChair]

Very disappointing pace since the WJ's. Wouldn't be surprised to see him drop down to Edmonton's pick in the 2-5 range.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I'm surprised more teams don't do what Kingston tried to do against him. They had Lammikko literally not do anything other than follow him around the ice. McDavid still got open for chances (he's that good), but it limited his overall effectiveness.

The last time I remember seeing that kind of actual shadowing was Dubinsky in the playoffs last year against Crosby. It was reminiscent of back in the day when Gretzky would have a guy literally skate everywhere he did, even when he wasn't even near the puck.

Yea that was hilarious. Felt bad for Lammikko watching him try so hard to stay with him.

 

[ponder]

OK so what's the truth?

I asked about his lack of production and Finnished, Tycho, and Brandonholmes all indicated that he's not trying all that hard or he's become bored.

I then raised this lack of effort/boredom as a potential issue, and now TanksPavs and SAK11 claim he's been playing hard and was just over performing earlier in the season.

So is a 2.8 PPG player who is just bored/ disinterested? Or is he more like the 2.1 PPG player he has been since the WJCs?

This is really just how scoring is distributed, for everyone. Scoring is not a consistent, predictable thing that depends only on the player themselves, it depends on the quality of your opposition, how your teammates are playing, and tonnes of plain old good or bad luck. Remember that game Sam Gagner scored 8 points in a game? Everything was working out for him that game, awesome luck. Then there's the stretches where he won't put up a point for 5+ games, he can still be doing good things but just not getting the bounces.

For example, a player putting up, say, 2 PPG over a season is always going to involve patchy scoring. It'll never being someone scoring 2 points every game, all season long. Some stretches they'll be around 1 or 1.5 PPG, some stretches they'll be around 2.5 or 3 PPG, and it'll average out to 2 PPG. McDavid, so far this season, has been a 2.5 PPG player, with some stretches around 1.5 - 2 PPG, and some around 3 - 3.5 PPG.

 

[duul]

After destroying the OHL up until the WJC, and then dominating the WJC and winning the gold medal...it's easy to see why he could have slowed down.

You have #1 overall in the entry draft locked up, your team has already locked up a playoff spot, and you're still putting up over a 2.00 PPG. I have only seen one of his games since the WJC and he dominated just as hard as he did since the beginning of the season. Hit a couple posts, teammates missed giftwrapped opportunities.

It is a combination of resting up for the playoff run and bad puck luck.

 

[Skip2myBordyloo]

Boo on him for Not getting 3 points a game when they are leading 6-1 in games.

He lacks a killer instinct yadda yadda yadda