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

[MessierThanThou]

Has anyone said he needs to dig in yet?

It’s a combination of age, injuries and the league adjusting to better defend him

1. He's 28.

2. The three players ahead of him in points-per-game are older....

 

[Matty Sundin]

2021-2023 was him in super saiyan peak mode where he was in a tier by himself. Even with that and him looking like he’s asleep most games this year, he’s still 4th in league scoring. This is the first year though where I say with confidence he’s not the best player on his team.

If you watch games in those 2021-2023 years and now I can definitely notice his explosiveness and speed isn’t what it once was but not saying he’s a slow player and he’s still a fast player but it’s like he’s not in his own tier anymore.

 

[ijuka]

Draisaitl +27 McDavid +3 that's a yikes from me

 

[Video Nasty]

So what’s the verdict if he puts up another 40 point Conn Smythe run and wins the Cup? All good again?

 

[eojsmada]

McDavid relies on his legs and it's pretty clear that his legs are either starting to slow down or the wear-and-tear from a long Cup run is starting to show up. I also think more teams are making a point to hit him more often, rather than just letting him skate freely.

 

[EdmFlyersfan]

McDavid will still be a top flight player for another 4 years or so and maybe even win another Art Ross, there will be a significant drop off as his physical skills decline and he is not a high level cerebral player like Kucherov who can compensate.

So what’s the verdict if he puts up another 40 point Conn Smythe run and wins the Cup? All good again?

He might, but I do not think you are reading what most are implying on here.

 

[Mobiandi]

He’s not giving 100% because he doesn’t want to be injured when he announces that he won’t be re-signing this summer

 

[Coffey]

He’s not giving 100% because he doesn’t want to be injured when he announces that he won’t be re-signing this summer

Like that would make any difference.

 

[Soundwave]

McDavid will still be a top flight player for another 4 years or so and maybe even win another Art Ross, there will be a significant drop off as his physical skills decline and he is not a high level cerebral player like Kucherov who can compensate.



He might, but I do not think you are reading what most are implying on here.

Kucherov's playoff numbers the last two seasons are rather pedestrian, interesting how that happens when Tampa isn't quite as loaded of a team.

All top athletes will play at higher levels for longer in their careers. It's simple training and nutrition, we're seeing in virtually every sport, tennis, hockey, basketball, Brady in football, etc. etc.

These guys are just on a different level from even players 12-15 years ago.

 

[MessierThanThou]

Yup, obviously hindsight but BowJack are shit and should be fired immediately.

The org caters to friends, they're more worried about McDavid leaving than winning hockey games. That's how you know it's over.

And for some reason Dustin Schwartz remains untouchable, even though his two prized pupils are having the worst seasons of their career. Tristan Jarry was sent down to the AHL after being considered for Team Canada only a few months ago, and Skinner would probably be in Bakersfield right now if this team had any actual NHL goalies.

Bowman gives me Peter Chiarelli vibes: both guys inherited a Cup contending core and received more credit than they deserved. Both guys traded away star players for poor returns and gave away younger players who they would later wish they could have back. Bowman is still better than Chiarelli, but management definitely has a type...

 

[Video Nasty]

He might, but I do not think you are reading what most are implying on here.

What’s being implied? That there’s a double standard when it comes to McDavid and Crosby? An average to bad quarter season stretch of play is enough to wipe out 8 years of dominance? That only certain all-timers are given extended grace periods?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

And for some reason Dustin Schwartz is untouchable, even though his two prized pupils are having the worst seasons of their career. Tristan Jarry was sent down to the AHL after being considered for Team Canada only a few months ago, and Skinner would be in Bakersfield right now if this team had any actual NHL goalies.

Preaching to the choir there. The Oilers have always seen McDavid as an instant win button and done the bare minimum in work.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I suspect it's a lot of the same things that have started to effect Colorado as a team...

Which that he simply doesn't care about the regular season at this point. All he wants is to win the cup and what happens in the regular season has very little impact on that for the Oilers at this stage.

Dudes probably just going through the motions until the playoffs begin and then he'll fully lock in.

 

[Rubi]

After just getting married I think he's discovering there's more to life than just hockey. I also think he's a bit tired of playing for a team that has obvious problems that never seem to get fixed.. year after year.

 

[MessierThanThou]

Preaching to the choir there. The Oilers have always seen McDavid as an instant win button and done the bare minimum in work.

Funny enough, they only have McDrai because of how poorly they ran the team. Every other franchise would take landing those two future legends as a wake-up call, yet this team passed over Bill Zito for a retirement-ready Ken Holland. Not to mention hiring a "genius" who had already given away superstars like Seguin and Blake Wheeler before even coming here... Oilers management were, are, and may forever be, dinosaurs with zero foresight.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Funny enough, they only have McDrai because of how poorly they ran the team. Every other franchise would take landing those two legends as a wake-up call, this team passed over Bill Zito for a retirement-ready Ken Holland. Not to mention hiring an idiot who had already given away superstars like Seguin and Blake Wheeler before even coming here... Oilers management were, are, and may forever be, dinosaurs with zero foresight.

They really do enjoy hiring their shitty GMs that no other team would want.

Now we're paralyzed because we're not sure if Kane is going to play this season. Good thing we claimed Kapanen off waivers and signed Klingberg. They're so f***ing stupid, a dog could run this team better.

 

[LaineBOOM]

1. He's 28.

2. The three players ahead of him in points-per-game are older....

So you are saying that now even older players than him are beating him in scoring? Im starting to get worried man.

 

[MessierThanThou]

They really do enjoy hiring their shitty GMs that no other team would want.

Now we're paralyzed because we're not sure if Kane is going to play this season. Good thing we claimed Kapanen off waivers and signed Klingberg. They're so f***ing stupid, a dog could run this team better.

Oh man, so many legitimately stupid Oiler fans were calling Klingberg "free." Yeah, $1.75 million for 30 games (and that's if he doesn't keep getting scratched) is far from f***ing free.

 

[LaineBOOM]

I can give McDavid's agent a call while I call Laine's agent. Maybe they can get a group deal for an ADHD investigation. After that just load them up with some Ritalin or Adderall and the boys will train and play and look look like theyre 20 again.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

Is this the part where we say he's sAviNg HiMsELf fOr tHe pLaYoFfS

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Oh man, so many legitimately stupid Oiler fans were calling Klingberg "free." Yeah, $1.75 million for 30 games (and that's if he doesn't keep getting scratched) is far from f***ing free.

Not to mention he's abysmal defensively. There's aliens on Mars who knew that.

 

[syz]

Been saying he's had an injury since the end of the 23 regular season. Couldn't even lift that Four Nations trophy over his head. Still expecting things to get to a point where he finally needs to have surgery.

Also, his non-Draisaitl linemates have been shit as well this year, which hasn't helped.

 

[HockeyVirus]

McDavid relies on his legs and it's pretty clear that his legs are either starting to slow down or the wear-and-tear from a long Cup run is starting to show up. I also think more teams are making a point to hit him more often, rather than just letting him skate freely.

Didn't look like his legs were in any distress during 4 nations....

 

[MessierThanThou]

Not to mention he's abysmal defensively. There's aliens on Mars who knew that.

Yeah, we even had Dallas fans on here warning us that he was the literal opposite of what we needed. But you can always count on a good number of simple-minded Oiler fans to simp for management. Just like these simpletons did at last year's deadline when the team once again failed to address its need on D but landed an aging Henrique and press-box fixture Sam Carrick. I mean sure, Henrique was fine in the playoffs...but another Top 4 D would have been exponentially more helpful. And it would certainly help a lot more than Henrique has lately...

Didn't look like his legs were in any distress during 4 nations....

That's why I think it's a coaching issue. This is a head coach who scratches players after scoring goals in games where we desperately need them. Who inexplicably splits apart players who still have chemistry as we saw when McD-Hyman were still hot. Now people are wondering why this team can't score...

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Bowman gives me Peter Chiarelli vibes: both guys inherited a Cup contending core and received more credit than they deserved. Both guys traded away star players for poor returns and gave away younger players who they would later wish they could have back. Bowman is still better than Chiarelli, but management definitely has a type...

Is he, though? I'd argue that on their previous team, Chiarelli did more to build the Bruins than Bowman did the Hawks. In fact, Bowman did more damage to ending their dynasty.

Bowman's entire resume is his dad was a legend. I don't think he's shown a single thing about how to build anything when he wasn't handed the keys to a mini-dynasty at their peak.