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

[Montag DP]

Other posters will have seen more of him, but in the roughly 15 games I've seen him play I'm pretty sure I've yet to see him shoot from beyond the hash marks. I guess it is a testament to how good he is that he can beat defensemen one on one to get in close, but he'll have to learn to shoot more at the NHL level.

That's what I think. He will still beat people in the NHL, but it's not going to be nearly as automatic as it is for him right now. He still has elite passing, vision, and skating, so he will obviously be more than fine, but it's going to be important for him to develop that shot too. That's one thing I like about watching Eichel - he scores from all over the ice.

 

[Jyrki Lumme]

Is anyone else really surprised that tonight was McDavid's first OHL hat trick?

 

[Future]

I think if anything it's a good thing most of his goals are below the hashmarks.

 

[Shawn Heins 44]

Extremely fun to watch!

 

[Hale The Villain]

I think if anything it's a good thing most of his goals are below the hashmarks.

Agreed. How many goalies get beat nowadays by shots from forwards above the hashmarks? Not many.

 

[helicecopter]

Not to mention his slapshot is top class.

yeah, why mention something that is far from true.

If anything, one might say one of McDavid's weaker qualities is his shot.

agree for that matter, right now his shot doesn't seem to be a threat unless he is below the hashmarks, and he will need that to change at the next level to keep Ds honest.

 

[1Gold Standard]

11 games to go! I think he'll come close to catching Marner. He'll need to go at a 3 PPG pace to finish the season. He'll give it the old college try. Adda Boy, Connor.

 

[Zaddy]

Full highlights of the game:



Wow.

It's unreal how good this kid is.

 

[Frosty415]

I hope he finishes #1 in scoring, it would be a fantastic comeback and really ignite his status come the lottery draft, the NHL could market McDavid and Eichel for the future of the league.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

Just a heads-up: The OHL will be streaming games for free on February 27th & 28th, which just so happens to coincide with two Otters games. Good chance to catch a few full games of McDavid!

S*** just got real.

 

[AD1066]

That's what I think. He will still beat people in the NHL, but it's not going to be nearly as automatic as it is for him right now. He still has elite passing, vision, and skating, so he will obviously be more than fine, but it's going to be important for him to develop that shot too. That's one thing I like about watching Eichel - he scores from all over the ice.

He's so talented I can't imagine him having any trouble adjusting when he puts his mind to it, but yeah I agree.

A fair number of his goals (when I have seen him) seem to come on breakaways or just walking through someone 1-on-1. Which is a testament to his combination of hands and skating, but I can't see him attempting the latter with the same frequency at the next level.

 

[HarrisonFord]

Man, I'm gonna hate whoever gets this kid

 

[FRUSTRATEDPENFAN*]

Good player its to bad people are comparing him to Crosby though

 

[waitin425]

Good player its to bad people are comparing him to Crosby though

The hype train is really high....but I ask, how long have you been following junior hockey? If at all?

Many of the people who are comparing him to Crosby, have been following junior hockey for a long time.

I for one, have seen Tavares, Perry, Kane, Crosby, Weber, Nash and many other top 50 NHL players play live in junior hockey. In terms of play in junior hockey, McDavid is right up there with Sid.

I will acknowledge that he has a lot too prove, before he is NHL Sid, but the comparisons based on this point of their careers are both accurate and fair. Afterall, Sid had to go through immense hype and comparisons too. I think to be an elite player in the NHL, this type of spotlight actually strengthens the player and proves what they are really worth.

The kid will have a great career. If he is going to be generational, he will live up to the hype.

 

[TeamlessWatcher]

He's so talented I can't imagine him having any trouble adjusting when he puts his mind to it, but yeah I agree.

A fair number of his goals (when I have seen him) seem to come on breakaways or just walking through someone 1-on-1. Which is a testament to his combination of hands and skating, but I can't see him attempting the latter with the same frequency at the next level.

Yeah honestly I see a lot of his highlights where he just cruises through an entire team effortlessly to score or set up a teammate and I know that stuff won't work well in the NHL. I hope he knows it too and he's just having fun at the junior level while he still can because otherwise he will be in for a rude awakening against NHL teams.

Still, like has been said, he has all the skills to quickly adapt his game so hopefully it won't be much of a hurdle for him.

 

[X66]

McDavid will be fine in the NHL goals wise.

He is a generational play-maker and that alone will open up a ton of space for him, I'm sure he'll adapt to scoring goals in many different ways.

 

[Patmac40]

Good player its to bad people are comparing him to Crosby though

Having watched Crosby ever since he was about 14 years old, McDavid is worthy of it.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

You know what's sad? When the OHL season is over and McDavid plays his last game for the Otters, that will be the end of his OHL career. It might be another 10 years before we see another player like him come in and put up three years like this. There's going to be some great junior players to watch still, however none will be on McDavid's level. Just weird to think about.

 

[ForzaItalia]

Why are some people threatened that he might turn out to be better than Crosby?

 

[LastWordArmy]

This week on our podcast, interviews with McDavid and Strome.

http://lastwordonsports.com/2015/02/26/powerplay-mcdavid-strome-stadium-series-injuries/

 

[Snow Dog]

It almost looks like he's just toying with the other players.He seems like he could go end to end every time he has the puck.

 

[JackSlater]

From my rather limited viewings (limited to WJC, maybe five junior games on tv and highlights) I would say that McDavid is just slightly below Crosby as a junior player. Some people seem to think that it's unthinkable to match Crosby, or at least come close to it, but his greatness in junior wasn't unprecedented. It's exciting to basically know that another superstar player is coming to the NHL, since every player who has been this good in junior (Crosby, Lindros, Lemieux, 16 year old Gretzky, Lafleur) has worked out pretty well.

In terms of projecting where McDavid ends up as an overall player, it's difficult to say how he will compare to a Crosby type player. I will say that ultimately Crosby has not lived up to my expectations based on his junior play, where he looked like a Lemieux type talent as opposed to more of a Forsberg type talent. I wouldn't be surprised if McDavid ends up better than Crosby (or worse). It would be shocking if he starts off as well as Crosby did though. I would put Crosby's 19 year old season up against that of anyone else in hockey history outside of Gretzky.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

The hype train is really high....but I ask, how long have you been following junior hockey? If at all?

Many of the people who are comparing him to Crosby, have been following junior hockey for a long time.

I for one, have seen Tavares, Perry, Kane, Crosby, Weber, Nash and many other top 50 NHL players play live in junior hockey. In terms of play in junior hockey, McDavid is right up there with Sid.

I will acknowledge that he has a lot too prove, before he is NHL Sid, but the comparisons based on this point of their careers are both accurate and fair. Afterall, Sid had to go through immense hype and comparisons too. I think to be an elite player in the NHL, this type of spotlight actually strengthens the player and proves what they are really worth.

The kid will have a great career. If he is going to be generational, he will live up to the hype.

In terms of dominating his peers, he falls somewhere between Kane and Crosby. The biggest concern for me when making that Crosby comparison is the transferability of CMD's style.

Crosby played a very "NHL" type game in junior. Scoring a ton of garbage goals and playing a very simple game, relative to what his skill level was capable of.

A lot of CMD's goals are "junior hockey" goals, and he lacks the brute strength that made Crosby a superstar from day 1. Those two factors lead me to doubt his ability to reach Crosby's level.

He'll very likely be a top 3 player in the NHL for a long time, beginning once Crosby and Malkin exit their primes.

 

[Shwaguy*]

Face it, it's already guaranteed he ends up on Toronto. Other tanking teams may as well try to start winning right now to develop their young guys since McDavid is definitely ours.

 

[couture23]

Face it, it's already guaranteed he ends up on Toronto. Other tanking teams may as well try to start winning right now to develop their young guys since McDavid is definitely ours.

Riiiight, your chances aren't that great.