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

[ItsFineImFine]

If nothing else, this proves they aren’t a product of each other this year if they aren’t playing together as much.

To me, Draisaitl looks far better than McDavid this year. McDavid looks like a bit of a rush merchant (no offense) though maybe he's just sand-bagging it for the playoffs, I dunno.

 

[TheLegend27]

You are the one who brings here Crosby constantly and use ”You don’t watch games” arguments which are pretty childish. Especial while youre throwing here just point totals

Anyways, I have seen enough McDavid to have my opinion on him. SC Finals prove that he is right there with guys like Barkov. These player types are vety different, McD makes couple of flashes in a game and if he succeeds on those, he has had a succesful game. Guys like Crosby and Barkov does everything perfectly every shift, but arent as flashy.

Anyways, when it comes to that debate you are forcing here: McDavid need couple of cups to be on the level with Crosby, he is not going to be on the absolute top without being able to win playing with guys like Draisaitl. That’s the ultimate goal in this sport, thats it. Greatest players find a way to win, in every sport.

I mean, the person you're responding to is a lifelong Pittsburg fan who watched Crosby play for his entire career. You can say you prefer Crosby or that he’s better, but there needs to be more valid arguments than “look he lifted a cup”. I’m sure McDavid would love to go 19 points in 24 games and focus on a “well rounded game” but those stats with the Oilers is a first round exit. Kinda unfair to evaluate both on cup success when one has to play double the level just to sniff the finals.

 

[Voight]

If the season ended today he would finish 4th in points, which would be a career worst finish for him.

Insane.

**Not including his rookie season

 

[OilersFanatics505]

If the season ended today he would finish 4th in points, which would be a career worst finish for him.

Insane.

Does his rookie season not count?

 

[Voight]

Does his rookie season not count?

Forgot to add in that does include his rookie year. So basically out of all healthy seasons hes had, this would be his "worst" which is crazy.

 

[Nadal On Clay]

Some ugly stats here

Since 2005-06 there have been 10 seasons that have matched or cleared Crosby’s career high in points:
McDavid 3x, Kucherov 2x, MacKinnon 1x, Thornton 1x, Jagr 1x and Panarin 1x.

Since 2005-06 there have been 24 seasons that have matched or cleared Crosby’s career high in goals:
Ovechkin 6x, Draisaitl 2x, Matthews 2x, Stamkos 2x, Kovalchuk 2x, Reinhart, McDavid, Hyman, Pastrnak, Point, Rantanen, Kreider, Lecavalier, Cheechoo and Jagr all once.

Since 2005-06 there have been 8 seasons that have matched or cleared Crosby’s career high in assists:
McDavid 2x, Kucherov 2x, Thornton 2x, MacKinnon and Huberdeau once each.

When a generational player has a down year it sucks for the league. I’ve been pretty disappointed in really everyone this year outside of Draisaitl and Ovechkin. I expected more out of McDavid this year by a lot but I also felt this way literally every year I’ve had season tickets for Sidney Crosby at least offensively. These are ugly stats. He failed as a generational talent offensively in single seasons.

Pens fans do not spend half of their posts pumping up McDavid to the detriment of Crosby. You can drop the schtick man, you’re not fooling any of us.

As for the thread, the similarity of Crosby’s and McDavid’s regular seasons continues after all of those years.

Crosby at 27 :
Finished 3rd in points
Finished 1st in PPG

McDavid at 27 :
Currently 4th in points
Currently 5th in PPG

So much for McDavid being in a “different stratosphere” than Crosby offensively when the only thing separating their RS resume up to that point is badly timed injuries….

 

[WalterLundy]

As for the thread, the similarity of Crosby’s and McDavid’s regular seasons continues after all of those years.

Crosby at 27 :
Finished 3rd in points
Finished 1st in PPG

McDavid at 27 :
Currently 4th in points
Currently 5th in PPG

So much for McDavid being in a “different stratosphere” than Crosby offensively when the only thing separating their RS resume up to that point is badly timed injuries….

And there it is! Another accusation of not being a pens fan! Beautiful. You don’t get to tell me what pens fans get to do. Nothing I bring up is to the “detriment” of Crosby when it comes to McDavid it’s just that he is an inferior player. I have sang the praises of Jagr and Malkin on here for a good while and obviously have Lemieux 2nd ever. One of the best talents the game has ever seen. Just because I find Crosby to be a failure as a generational offensive talent in full seasons doesn’t mean I am not a pens fan. I’m assuming you still have your ticket stubs from the 91 and 92 finals right? Maybe I’ll make them my profile picture…

I’m not trying to fool anyone. Who is “us” by the way because I can guarantee that you haven’t been to a fraction of pens games that I have. What a clown comment. You can be a pens fan and state the obvious. McDavid is better than Crosby. Gretzky is better than Lemieux (as great as he was). Saying these things and exposing fragile, insecure Crosby gatekeepers doesn’t mean you aren’t a pens fan. Stick to tennis man honestly I have forgotten more hockey than you’ll know and if you’ll attack me for McDavid posts we all know you are a Crosby worshipper. Let’s not act like we will get an ounce of objectivity when it comes to him. That was a pretty lame attempt at a rebuttal too by referencing his hot garbage 2014-15 season. I wouldn’t dig that corpse up to try and compare that to any McDavid season…..

I would lament the pitfalls of some of the fans within the base but you probably aren’t even a pens fan yourself. You probably are just some Canadian millennial dude that latched on to Crosby when you were younger and he’s been your hero ever since which causes you to have a glaring bias.

 

[WalterLundy]

I mean, the person you're responding to is a lifelong Pittsburg fan who watched Crosby play for his entire career. You can say you prefer Crosby or that he’s better, but there needs to be more valid arguments than “look he lifted a cup”. I’m sure McDavid would love to go 19 points in 24 games and focus on a “well rounded game” but those stats with the Oilers is a first round exit. Kinda unfair to evaluate both on cup success when one has to play double the level just to sniff the finals.

great comment. Couldn’t agree more but just be careful calling me a pens fan because you’ll get a slew of people commenting to you that’ll just say I’m not a fan of a team I’ve followed for 47 years because I state the obvious about a player comparison. Thanks though!

 

[archangel2]

not happy in Edmonton with their lack of ability to address needs we all see? Lets see how quickly he signs a new contract after July 1st

 

[ottawa]

He most likely already peaked, he's still in his prime but I wouldn't be shocked if he doesn't reach 140 again and hovers around ~115 for the next few years.

 

[nowhereman]

And there it is! Another accusation of not being a pens fan! Beautiful. You don’t get to tell me what pens fans get to do. Nothing I bring up is to the “detriment” of Crosby when it comes to McDavid it’s just that he is an inferior player. I have sang the praises of Jagr and Malkin on here for a good while and obviously have Lemieux 2nd ever. One of the best talents the game has ever seen. Just because I find Crosby to be a failure as a generational offensive talent in full seasons doesn’t mean I am not a pens fan. I’m assuming you still have your ticket stubs from the 91 and 92 finals right? Maybe I’ll make them my profile picture…

I’m not trying to fool anyone. Who is “us” by the way because I can guarantee that you haven’t been to a fraction of pens games that I have. What a clown comment. You can be a pens fan and state the obvious. McDavid is better than Crosby. Gretzky is better than Lemieux (as great as he was). Saying these things and exposing fragile, insecure Crosby gatekeepers doesn’t mean you aren’t a pens fan. Stick to tennis man honestly I have forgotten more hockey than you’ll know and if you’ll attack me for McDavid posts we all know you are a Crosby worshipper. Let’s not act like we will get an ounce of objectivity when it comes to him. That was a pretty lame attempt at a rebuttal too by referencing his hot garbage 2014-15 season. I wouldn’t dig that corpse up to try and compare that to any McDavid season…..

I would lament the pitfalls of some of the fans within the base but you probably aren’t even a pens fan yourself. You probably are just some Canadian millennial dude that latched on to Crosby when you were younger and he’s been your hero ever since which causes you to have a glaring bias.

Almost every single post I've seen from you on this site throws shade at the "failure" that is Crosby. Why so much animosity for a guy who's lead your team to multiple Cups and basically saved your franchise? If you're actually a Penguins fan and not some Oilers/Capitals burner account, you've got us all fooled.

 

[Zalos]

He most likely already peaked, he's still in his prime but I wouldn't be shocked if he doesn't reach 140 again and hovers around ~115 for the next few years.

This sounds like a post made about Ovechkin during his questionable years over a decade ago.

I don't know what's going on with McDavid, but my guess is that he's saving himself for the playoffs this year.

As for the Crosby/McDavid comparisons, they are both top 10 players all-time already. It'll be easier to judge once McDavid is in his late 30s. But, for now, I'd put McDavid above Sid.

 

[daver]

I mean, the person you're responding to is a lifelong Pittsburg fan who watched Crosby play for his entire career. You can say you prefer Crosby or that he’s better, but there needs to be more valid arguments than “look he lifted a cup”. I’m sure McDavid would love to go 19 points in 24 games and focus on a “well rounded game” but those stats with the Oilers is a first round exit. Kinda unfair to evaluate both on cup success when one has to play double the level just to sniff the finals.

You seem to be forgetting that Crosby got his team to the SCF in 2009 with a better performance than McDavid's in 2024 without significant point shares with Malkin and with clearly inferior ES linemates. To be fair, McDavid's performance against the Stars was his best playoff series of his career, IMO, as he did it without Drai on his line and without the Oilers playing all out offense. His SCF was as good as Crosby's in 2008; a good one but not good enough to win. He didn't show up until it was too late in Game 3 and that lead it being too late in the series. Full marks to McDavid for getting the team within two games of the Cup with a great Game 5; the same thing that Crosby did on 2008.

To paint the 2016 Pens as winning despite Crosby's lower than expected production is one of the biggest fallacies on HF.

I'm sure the Oilers would love to rely on McDavid playing a well rounded game where they can put a career 3rd liner and an AHL callup who was terrible defensively on his line to create much needed depth as the Pens did 2016. That team was designed to roll three scoring lines so the HBK line could exploit 3rd lines and #2/#3 d-pairings. They were used exclusively for offence. It was as important that the other team's loaded #1 lines didn't score as it was for Crosby's line to score. Crosby notably stepped up in key games and key moments during that run and was the centrepiece of a team that was arguably the 2nd best Cup winner since the 2005 lockout.

After shaking off the effects of Mike Johnston's ill advised reigning in of the Pens offense in December 2015, Crosby proceeded to lead the lead in scoring the rest of the way that year, lead the World Cup in scoring, win the Rocket while leading in PPG for most of the year, add another Conn Smythe, and add another superstar level offensive performance in the 2018 playoffs.

Do you honestly think he forgot how to play elite offensive hockey during the 2016 playoffs?

 

[bobholly39]

If the season ended today he would finish 4th in points, which would be a career worst finish for him.

Insane.

**Not including his rookie season

Forgot to add in that does include his rookie year. So basically out of all healthy seasons hes had, this would be his "worst" which is crazy.

Counting only healthy seasons - this is actually worst than Crosby.

The first time Crosby finished worst than top 3 in a scoring race in a mostly healthy season was 2017-2018, his 13th season.

In contrast - this is only McDavid's 10th season.