Is McDavid a poor captain?

[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.

 

[Fataldogg]

No one should comment on these things. I hate these questions. As if we can see into the locker room and see his leadership qualities or not.

 

[jigglysquishy]

I'm honestly really curious to see where this poll ends up.

The "right f***ing now" speech from last year's finals I thought was incredibly cringe, and I could not believe what I saw tonight with him just abandoning the center of the ice as the late forward so he could double up on the puck carrier on that second goal against tonight (????). And yet, he's offensively one of the best players to ever play the game.

Anyway I'm not sure if he's a 'poor' captain, but it seems like the best Captains (ie Messier, Scott Stevens, Sakic, Yzerman, Bergeron etc) all seem to end up winning at some point. And then there are also extremely gifted players like Jumbo or Bure who never do.

Thanks for the thread OP, curious to see where this vote ends up

Bergeron never won as Captain so I'm not sure why you would include him.

 

[I am not exposed]

No one should comment on these things. I hate these questions. As if we can see into the locker room and see his leadership qualities or not.

100% this.

 

[bobbyking]

anyone saying yes has serious problems

 

[3074326]

Got to the finals twice, stop turning the NHL into the NBA's stupid ass ring culture nonsense. None of us have any idea if he's a good captain, and the results are about as good as could be expected without literally winning the cup.

 

[Albatros]

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.

Taking his C away would have been the right thing to do as well if he was a bad captain. Give it back when he's ready for the role.

 

[Lshap]

Fan opinions on whether McDavid is a good leader are as meaningful as our opinions on whether he's a good boyfriend. Most leadership takes place behind closed doors. We have no clue. A few soundbites don't make us informed.

 

[Greatzsky 99]

In 20 years no one is going to care who his goalie was, or about his point totals if he keeps coming up short.

People are going to remember him getting beat in back to back finals, him being a -5 at even strength in 2025 SCF, and as a captain who came up short. The criticism is justified at this point.

Talk for you self.

to the question, i have been thinking this for a while, he is a "feelingsperson" i dont
know the right word in enghlish, and i dont think he is suited to be a captain, and i think
it doesnt give him maximum capacity, i think its a weight on that kind of a person,
he is more an artist, then a natural leader, someone you have to take away weight from
there are much better captains around, so he can focus on what he is good at, you see it
al the time in interviews etc and he is to selfaware for that, one thing i saw was telling,
he mentioned that people said he was robotic in interviews and he didnt like it,
so he is aware of the talk, and he lets it affect him, thats not a good sign for a leader,
they must have more skin. Imagine a boss thats to conserned with his image?

 

[Greatzsky 99]

Taking his C away would have been the right thing to do as well if he was a bad captain. Give it back when he's ready for the role.

i agree, but not in the sense he is a bad captain, and he somehow becomes one, he isnt the type
the personality, it weighs him down, that my opionion

 

[Mrb1p]

Somewhat. Takes too much money, doesnt do the little things.

 

[Kingfan1967]

Calling out your teammates in public isn't something a good captain does.

 

[EdmFlyersfan]

He's just very immature.

 

[Panthaz89]

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.

Since when was Crosby one of the most complete centers? I'd take McDavid over him defensively too and he's an insanely effective as a penalty killer to boot.

 

[Russian_fanatic]

Since when was Crosby one of the most complete centers? I'd take McDavid over him defensively too and he's an insanely effective as a penalty killer to boot.

Lmmmaaooooo

 

[Panthaz89]

Lmmmaaooooo

Good argument. Nothing backs this up other than some made up narrative. McDavid already has more shorthanded points in like 10 less years to boot.

 

[And Bust It Is]

Only the other Oilers players can answer that and they seem to go out of their way to say he is a very good captain, so I would have to trust them.

Corey Perry on McDavid:

"I played with him at the Championships, but he was a lot younger and I didn’t know him that well when I came in," Perry said. "I was very surprised — how outgoing he is in the dressing room, how he’s just friends with everybody — and he’s that leader."

"He’s a voice, and he uses it when it needs to be said or something needs to be said. His actions speak louder than his words. I wouldn’t ask for a better captain, that’s for sure."

 

[Russian_fanatic]

Good argument. Nothing backs this up other than some made up narrative. McDavid already has more shorthanded points in like 10 less years to boot.

LMAOOO

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Good argument. Nothing backs this up other than some made up narrative. McDavid already has more shorthanded points in like 10 less years to boot.

Are you unaware of the irony of praising a player's defense by listing their point totals?

 

[ItWasJustified]

Is McDavid a poor captain?

Only a former or current Oilers player can answer that. How would we know?

 

[NVious]

How can he be a poor captain:

Took Hyman (a 20/20 guy who sucked in the playoffs) and turned him into a 50/30 playoff beast
Took RNH who was a mediocre 60-70 1st overall pick and made him a 100 point guy
Took Evander Kane who was a cancer/untouchable to most teams and had him score 13 (35th best individual effort of all time) in the playoffs
Gonna get Bouchard paid 7 figures

I'm not gonna give him all the credit for Drai, but nobody in their right mind could've predicted he would've become such a beast, McDavid had a hand in that too.

How much more does he need to do?

He can't turn AHL tier goaltending into NHL tier goaltending just through his belief, he can't turn a mediocre D core into an excellent one with just his belief.

 

[CashMash]

We can't know