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Many NHL teams were paying attention to Connor McDavid years before he was eligible to be drafted. He was the second coming. He drew comparisons to Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky, two of the best of all time. Still, it is surprising how good he is already.
McDavid is 18 years old. He is on a team that doesn’t have a ton of veteran presence. He has a coach who is trying to install a new system. The team he plays for has a terrible recent history with talent development. Everything points to a long learning curve, at least for this season.
Instead, McDavid already has 12 points after 11 games. He has earned at least a point in seven straight games, and plays all over the ice. He is helping linemate Nail Yakupov realize his true potential after the winger was on the fence to being a complete bust just a few seasons into his career. McDavid is forcing himself to be considered the top-line center, despite the fact Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is just as talented as anyone in the league.
The thing is, the Edmonton Oilers haven’t had an easy start. They have been ravaged by injuries to Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz, Rob Klinkhammer and Griffin Reinhart. Their schedule sees them play a lot of good teams on the road. The Oilers haven’t found a way to consistently get wins. They have not had good goaltending from Cam Talbot or Anders Nilsson. Not much is going right for this team, but McDavid is.
It’s hard to predict what McDavid’s season will look like. He will have to deal with more losses than he is used to. He will have to play more games than usual. Teams will get more and more tape on him, which will help form a strategy to contain his skill. His season will ride on how he adjusts, but it’s great to see that he is already the Oilers’ best player.
In just one month, he’s showed where the future of this team, and the NHL, lies.
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