Is McDavid a poor captain?

[majormajor]

OMG sorry for criticizing McJesus =(

Ill retract my statement and replace it with McDavid is the best hockey player ever, and the reason why the Oilers lost is because the Oilers team failed McDavid... its not fair =( McDavid is a hypothetical 2x SC champion and the best hockey player ever!!!

You're pretending that no criticism is allowable, a classic low level debate tactic. Instead I'm saying your critique comparing him to Marcel Dionne is very specifically a bad take. You can criticize McDavid, I'm sure you can find a way to do that and not be spectacularly wrong. You just failed.

 

[majormajor]

Honestly I thought this for a long time, there just is a vibe, that team doesn't ring of a tight cohesive unit, a family, that culture starts with leadership, starts with the captain. From the outside there is just something really off with Edmonton. You never got that vibe from Crosby, Messier, Yzerman etc. everyone knew they were great leaders. Connor doesn't strike me as a great leader, a phenomenal player. Just because you are a great player doesn't mean you'll be a great leader.

I'm a little surprised at views like this, like you really think the Oilers roster that relies heavily on bargain bin players like Kapanen and Podkolzin and character journeymen like Connor Brown underperformed here? Just look at the roster, the one with Zach Hyman injured. They may have done more with less than any other club.

That Oilers squad has gone from less than the sum of their parts a few years ago to so much more than the sum of their parts. No team can go to the Cup Finals in a 32 team league without being that.

 

[Ezpz]

Problem is you're comparing McDavid to one of the most complete centere of all time (Crosby), one of the best two way centers of all time (Yzerman), quite possible the toughest player of alltime (Howe), and the GOAT (Gretzky).

All those guys can do what McDavid does (put up points), but they also offer other things. McDavid is quite frankly... 1 dimensional, and he doesn't have any intangibles. Hes more Marcel Dionne than those guys.

Problem is you don't realize Yzerman was considered a horrible two-way player at McDavid's age and had lost in the finals. He was considered a bad captain, and a selfish player. Then he won in 97-98 and the narrative flipped.

 

[dirtydanglez]

the oilers failures fall on the front office. a long history of incompetence.

 

[Hanji]

He’s a player who probably needs to lead by example, because, personality wise, he has absolutely no command presence.

 

[D1az]

I'm rudely voting "Yes" as I look at it from the perspective that you need to have a personality which speaks to others and fires them up.

I'd vote the same way regarding Barkov, and I view their mental leadership to come more from Tkachuk, even if everyone praises Barkov's quiet work ethic.
I don't think they would be where they are now with just a skilled Tkachuk, but without his personality and way of talking.

 

[psycat]

No idea, voted yes to even the poll out since I dont see how anybody(much less all who voted) here could possibly tell.