Is mcdavid too good not to win a cup?

[TheLegend27]

After tonight, He officially took over 2nd all-time in playoff pts/game, passing Mario Lemieux

1) Gretzky 1.837
2) McDavid 1.613
3) Lemieux 1.607

The only two players he should be compared to at this point.

 

[Calderon]

The Nurse contract is not as consequential with him playing the way he has this season and with the cap going up.

But I agree, filling out depth while having top heavy contracts will always be difficult.

Regarding the future you might be right. But what if the Oilers got to spend that money on other, better player(s) of that pay scale. Would it have tipped the scale last season, or before that?

 

[Grifter3511]

Maybe he needs to learn like Yzerman and Crosby and give up some offense to play the right way so he can win cups

Lol. This nonsense again?

 

[Bryanbryoil]

The correct question is "is Stuart Skinner so poor that he can single handily stop Connor McDavid from winning a cup?". The answer to that is a resounding yes.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Lol. This nonsense again?

I mean maybe he's onto something? If McDavid could play goal while also leading his team in playoff scoring maybe he could be a winner!?

 

[TheLegend27]

Maybe he needs to learn like Yzerman and Crosby and give up some offense to play the right way so he can win cups

Crosby didn’t give up any offense willingly, his offense just declined. Watching him play, it’s easy to see that he actually doesn’t sacrifice offense. He shouldn’t be in the same sentence as Yzerman when it comes to defensive play.

The Yzerman offense sacrificing approach only works if your team is good defensively and has good goaltending, which the Oilers do not. Let’s not act like the Oilers will start grinding out 1,2 goal games if McDavid plays better defense.

 

[ijuka]

Maybe he needs to learn like Yzerman and Crosby and give up some offense to play the right way so he can win cups

You think that Crosby is good defensively? Might be the biggest media fabrication of recent NHL history.

He's an offense-only player, and has always been so.

The whole thing about him being good defensively was simply done to justify giving him the Conn-Smythe over the far more deserving Phil Kessel.

 

[daver]

Wow, colour me shocked. Another game where McDavid wracks up the points after the Oilers play terribly loose hockey including McDavid and get in a hole so they have no choice but to go all out offense. His bad pass then leads to the game winner.

But it's OK, blame the goalie, the d-corps, management etc...

After tonight, He officially took over 2nd all-time in playoff pts/game, passing Mario Lemieux

1) Gretzky 1.837
2) McDavid 1.613
3) Lemieux 1.607

And his team has a losing record.

 

[daver]

Maybe he needs to learn like Yzerman and Crosby and give up some offense to play the right way so he can win cups

If you want a player to try to lead your team back from three down in the 3rd, you want McDavid. If you want to avoid your team being down 3 goals in the 3rd to begin with, you take Crosby.

 

[SirKillalot]

If you want a player to try to lead your team back from three down in the 3rd, you want McDavid. If you want to avoid your team being down 3 goals in the 3rd to begin with, you take Crosby.

Or it all just have to do with depth, defence and complimentary players, or lack of them.

 

[daver]

Or it all just have to do with depth, defence and complimentary players, or lack of them.

Crosby created depth on his team with his ability to play with anyone on his wing. He is also a notably better defensive player than McDavid.

There is a reason he won at every level he played. He is the more versatile player who can contribute in more ways offensively and away from the puck.

 

[BLNY]

While true, that's an ignorant take. We're not talking about your average HOF player here, we're talking about someone who could blow up the consensus group of top4 players all time. And he still might, even without a cup.

Furthermore, there are plenty of marginal cases of players for whom a cup win was the thing that tipped the scale for HOF induction.

Nothing ignorant about it. Brad Park was considered, for much of his career, the best d-man not named Orr. Recency bias has dropped him down a lot of lists, but he's one of the best ever. No cups. It didn't diminish his career. With twice as many teams, it's harder to win now than it ever was. If McDavid never wins, it won't diminish his career because winning it is more a team accomplishment than ever.

 

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

Nothing ignorant about it. Brad Park was considered, for much of his career, the best d-man not named Orr. Recency bias has dropped him down a lot of lists, but he's one of the best ever. No cups. It didn't diminish his career. With twice as many teams, it's harder to win now than it ever was. If McDavid never wins, it won't diminish his career because winning it is more a team accomplishment than ever.

He'll never be top 5 without a championship in most peoples eyes. Lebron, Ovechkin, Crosby, Curry, Manning, Durant, Makar, Jokic, MacK, Brady, Ohtani, Mahomes all play in leagues with just about as many teams and found a way to win. He is very much the only athlete of that caliber still seeking a title.

The great ones find a way. It might mean being harsh with the Oilers and telling them to get a real goalie, it might mean leaving the oilers. But they always find a way. There is only one objective in sport and thats to win the game. You can't be the best to ever play if you've never completed the main objective of the game.

With that said, I do believe McDavid will win a cup eventually and probably sooner than later.

 

[SirKillalot]

There is a reason he won at every level he played. He is the more versatile player who can contribute in more ways offensively and away from the puck.

He won because they had more depth.
They got scored on less when he was not on the ice, and I don't mean in compared to when he was on, but in general. Oilers get scored on more when with their depth guys on ice than Pittsburgh did with their depth guys on ice.

McDavid is performing more than well enough to win a cup, just need support cast.

 

[daver]

He won because they had more depth.

Not in 2009. The supporting cast outside of Crosby and Malkin may be the weakest of all-time for a Cup winner, and certainly better than the Oilers supporting cast since 2022.

 

[SirKillalot]

Not in 2009. The supporting cast outside of Crosby and Malkin may be the weakest of all-time for a Cup winner

Their support cast by playoff time was good. Otherwise they wouldn't have won the cup.
It may not been the regular season high scoring all star cast. But they had multiple complimentary and role players that made them go far.

I agree they shouldn't have won, Detroit should have been a little more injury free and sealed the deal.
But they played two cup finals in a row, so its beyond weird to say they lacked support.
Bigger part of that is defensive work and not just offense.

 

[daver]

Their support cast by playoff time was good. Otherwise they wouldn't have won the cup.

That's certainly some circular logic. Crosby's performance thru 3 rounds that year was the best since Mario/Wayne and he was doing it with notably offensively weak wingers, as was Malkin.

Find me another Cup winner who had two players outscore their teammates by 100% in both the regular season and the playoffs, and without sharing a lot of points together.

 

[Fatass]

Clearly McDavid if fantastic. It’s a capped league. As good as he is the club he’s on will have potholes he’s not able to keep covering up. His great play covers over one pothole and then another one is exposed. He might have to take less on his next contract than he deserves (US low tax market to compensate?) in hopes that there’s more cap available so management can pay players who don’t become potholes.

 

[landy]

Lol. This nonsense again?

Its not wrong.

 

[cowboy82nd]

Crosby didn’t give up any offense willingly, his offense just declined. Watching him play, it’s easy to see that he actually doesn’t sacrifice offense. He shouldn’t be in the same sentence as Yzerman when it comes to defensive play.

The Yzerman offense sacrificing approach only works if your team is good defensively and has good goaltending, which the Oilers do not. Let’s not act like the Oilers will start grinding out 1,2 goal games if McDavid plays better defense.

You mean plays defense at all?

 

[Sasha Orlov]

You mean plays defense at all?

Like Gretzky, right?

 

[Oleksiak]

Talented but his character issues and refusal to backcheck also handicaps the team. He really needs a coach to finally turn him into a man.

 

[cowboy82nd]

Like Gretzky, right?

right

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

His 5v5 goal differential in his playoff career without Draisaitl on his line is barely above 50%.

It's really cute how you still believe people take you seriously in a McDavid thread.

 

[daver]

I agree they shouldn't have won, Detroit should have been a little more injury free and sealed the deal.
But they played two cup finals in a row, so its beyond weird to say they lacked support.
Bigger part of that is defensive work and not just offense.

They didn't have Hossa in 2009 and Gonchar was playing injured after OV's cheapshot in round 2. The team wasn't notably playing a run and gun style to suit their star forwards' strengths.

And still love the bitterness about losing in 2009. Are you one those who blames the NHL for starting the SCF too soon?