What's wrong with Connor McDavid this season? Lowest PPG and GPG output in ~7-8 years for him

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

Most players already have had their statistical career high by his age. It could just be his best are behind him, which is still really good

 

[Perfect_Drug]

He's definitely injuired.


He's clearly not 100%

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Good jinx thread.

Definitely bet the over next Oilers game.

 

[Schennanigans]

That Stanley cup loss still on his mind maybe. He was one period away. That’s gonna be demoralizing for anyone.

 

[Turin]

Probably just physically tired. 28 now and played the most demanding season of his career last year. He looks like a ghoul every in-game/post game interview

 

[Hank Plank]

He's gonna put up 2ppg in the playoffs

Now the bad news, it will be for only 4 games.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Probably just physically tired. 28 now and played the most demanding season of his career last year. He looks like a ghoul every in-game/post game interview

FWIW, there was an interview of him recently with his shirt off and he looked very, well, unathletic. Pretty thin, arguably sinewy, and seemed to have less muscle tone than in past years.

 

[tfwnogf]

He's bored of the regular season. Why try when Stuart Skinnerd lets in hilariously bad goals game after game, your coach is an emotionless robot and your teammates are molasses slow and old af. Plus King Leon is now the best player on the team, that must eat at him too.

 

[Cup or Bust]

When you play many years in the NHL you are going to have some seasons better then others. He will get going as always. The Oilers definitely have other things to worry about with the trade deadline coming up. It would help if they had any wingers that weren't useless also. Still over 20 games left in the season.

 

[AD1066]

Very possible that at 28 we've already seen his peak. Especially for someone whose skating set him apart.

He's still in contention for the best player in the world, but not head-and-shoulders above the likes of Draisaitl or MacKinnon, and can be outperformed by them in any given year.

I'm curious to see how his game ages in the next few years, and long term I somewhat doubt he's going to be effective at 35+ to the same degree that Crosby and Ovechkin have been, in their own ways.

 

[LivingRentFree]

As I have said before, at a certain point in your career, being the regular season leader in pts and losing in the playoffs becomes very cringe. Let the young guys try hard for meaningless regular season accolades. Once you get the paycheck its playoff wins that matter.

The people who are saying its cuz he’s old and then cite people older than him beating him in pts? Lol.

I guess those older players still have work ethic and compete levels?

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Make it make sense, everyone claiming McDavid's best years behind him and he's not as spring a chicken as he once was, yet he's younger than all the other guys listed in the OP ahead of him....

He's going through a 'bad' stretch for him which would be 99.9% of other NHL's best dream stretch. I don't think he cares about regular season scoring right now at this point in his career.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Now the bad news, it will be for only 4 games.

Yeah well the oilers have been dog meat for years , they get carried by two players , not suprising if they don't win anything.

 

[M2Beezy]

Id say nothing and perhaps hes not over doing it to have his energy at its max in the playoffs. Dude wants a cup

 

[nowhereman]

As elite NHLers age, they become less concerned with regular season hardware. McDavid's won everything but a Cup, many times over, so another Art Ross only means so much.

Judge him by the playoffs.

 

[FlyguyOX]

Sounds like he needs to dig in, right f***ing now.

lmao POTY

 

[WarriorofTime]

He wants a Cup but we'll see, Oilers are looking fairly close to average, what with being 10th in goal differential and all. Oiler fans have been very confident they can just flip a "switch" but people forget how shutdown their PK was last postseason. Stuey Skinny has been pretty awful this season, the supporting cast is definitely creeping into "old" territory. I assume they'll rip passed the LA Kings per usual, but then assuming they meet the Knights in the second round, I wouldn't be as over-confident as Edmonton fans have been acting.

 

[Video Nasty]

It’ll be fine if he’s lifting the Cup in four months.

If not, there’s a whole offseason to reinvent my schtick.

 

[sbhnur]

He just accepted his bud Drai is the real deal.

 

[LaineBOOM]

FWIW, there was an interview of him recently with his shirt off and he looked very, well, unathletic. Pretty thin, arguably sinewy, and seemed to have less muscle tone than in past years.

Pics?

 

[blankall]

Make it make sense, everyone claiming McDavid's best years behind him and he's not as spring a chicken as he once was, yet he's younger than all the other guys listed in the OP ahead of him....

He's going through a 'bad' stretch for him which would be 99.9% of other NHL's best dream stretch. I don't think he cares about regular season scoring right now at this point in his career.

None of the players ahead of him are having peak seasons either. MacKinnon, who has the scoring lead, is currently on pace for 123 points. Last two years the Art Ross winners had 144 and 153 points.

All the leading scorers, including McDavid, are reaching their late 20s and early 30s, and they are all likely falling off somewhat and unlikely to repeat their very best years: MacKinnon, Kucherov, Draisaitl, and McDavid.

The next generation of elite talent, just wasn't as elite as these guys. The closest is J. Hughes. He still has room to grow and could turn from that 100 point centre to the 140+ point centre, but he's got a lot of work to do to get there.

 

[Terry Yake]

equivalent of crosby's 15-16 season

 

[ViD]

He doesn’t need to go as hard this season since Drai is doing it

Preparing for the post season

 

[AvroArrow]

Very possible that at 28 we've already seen his peak. Especially for someone whose skating set him apart.

He's still in contention for the best player in the world, but not head-and-shoulders above the likes of Draisaitl or MacKinnon, and can be outperformed by them in any given year.

I'm curious to see how his game ages in the next few years, and long term I somewhat doubt he's going to be effective at 35+ to the same degree that Crosby and Ovechkin have been, in their own ways.

He'll have to make that adjustment like Jordan/Kobe did. Reinvent their game when their athleticism no longer lets them dominate the competition. With his work ethic and determination, I think he does it.

Not that he's gonna become some slow snail, but he'll have to dominate more with IQ/technical skills, rather than his insane skating ability.

 

[POVERTY]

I think it's due to the depression from knowing no matter how many goals he scores, Skinner is going to allow more