Is McDavid a poor captain?

[crowfish]

I don't know if he is a good or bad captain. All the evidence suggests that he is a good captain, based on the reverence with which his teammates speak about him.

One thing I know is that winning the Cup is not proof of good or bad leadership. You could have the 2 best leaders in the NHL play against each other in the finals, and one of them would be guaranteed to lose. The only thing winning the Cup tells you is who the best team was. How much of that team's success is owed to leadership or just the fact that they were the best team cannot be measured.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

When Sid retires, McChoker better not be gifted the “C” for Team Canada

Overrated anti-clutch loser.

When Crosby won his first cup he had 3 points and was a -3 in the finals.

Sure sounds like he was super clutch.

 

[Aashir]

When Crosby won his first cup he had 3 points and was a -3 in the finals.

Sure sounds like he was super clutch.

I feel people are able to glance over Sid's finals performances because he wins. Had Mcdavid won and had 0 in games 6 and 7 and finished with 7 in 7 the same would've been said even though the point of mcdavid not being great in the finals still holds

crosby's finals stats are not anything special:
25GP 5G 15A 20P 1GWG +/- +4

I also think that the pens goaltending has really helped the penguins win games when they neded it, giving an average of:
.923 on 37 shots/game in 2008
.913 on 27.8 shots/game in 2009
.920 on 23 shots/game in 2016
.931 on 28.8 shots /game in 2017

compare that to Mcdavids:
13GP 4G 14A 18P 0GWG +/- -2

with this goaltending:
.909 on 25 shots/game in 2024
.866 on 31 shots/game in 2025

now imagine if Mcdavid had murray or fleury level goaltending that could've stolen games over the course of the past 2 finals games.

 

[biturbo19]

He's very talented at producing points by skating real fast, but nothing about him comes across as a true leader of men. He's pouty and regularly comes across as completely self-absorbed. I mean...not every good player is actually cut out to be a Captain. Drasaitl should probably actually wear the C.

 

[Sol]

weird cause Draisaitl outscored McDavid this year...just like 2019-20

phantom points?

Legit means nothing. Everyone knows that McDavid is the one who feeds Draisaitl points

 

[Hippasus]

Legit means nothing. Everyone knows that McDavid is the one who feeds Draisaitl points

When they're together on the ice they work as a tandem, that's their spiel, but each can produce at an elite level individually as well.

 

[tfwnogf]

Dragging that team to the finals 2 years in a row is crazy. I don't think Crosby could get out of round 2 with Skinner/Pickard duo. Through sheer determination to win McDavid carried like no other has carried. He might have Draisaitl, but Crosby had Malkin (36 point Malkin in 09) and Kessel going demonmode, Gretz had a hall of fame cast, Lemieux the same thing. McDavid and Drai had shaky goaltending, Darnell Nurse, and a slew of injured players each year, including themselves. I just don't see how anyone can think he's a terrible leader. A terrible leader would not have made it out of round 1 after LA went up 2-0. Wouldn't have come back strong against Vegas after that 0.4 seconds remaining goal, or rebounding to own Dallas after an embarrassing blowout in game 1. McDavid will win his cup, just like Ovechkin did when he silenced the doubters. Of course, the doubters will just change their argument to lol1cup to Crosgod's 3, so they shouldn't be taken seriously to begin with.