Ok. I’ve pretty much ignored Connor McDavid all year because nobody in their right mind thought the Oilers were going to be allowed to win the lottery. I mean, we joked around a bit, but honestly who among us didn’t think he would probably go to Arizona or Buffalo? We talked about Marner and Strome way more than we did about McDavid because we’re reasonable people. Looking at McDavid's season seemed like such a waste of time because Edmonton was not getting him.
However, I guess it’s time to look at what the phenom has been up to all year (Hint: Scoring a lot). And when we say he’s been scoring a lot, we mean he’s putting up video game numbers. Everybody out on the ice is playing hockey except for McDavid who is playing Wayne Gretzky 98 for the Nintendo 64.
Connor McDavid is listed at 6’1… and 187 pounds by the Otters themselves. Others have him listed in the 190’s but I’m going to defer to the Otters on this one. In any event, his weight is hardly a concern. He has the frame that he’ll almost certainly grow into the 195 range and his calling card is his speed more than his physicality anyway. The Oilers have size in the system in the form of Draisaitl and Yakimov so we can scratch the itch to get bigger with those guys. McDavid might not be a giant, but he’s going to be a star.
He started his OHL career with Erie at 15 years old after being granted exceptional status. As a 15 year old he scored 25-41-66 in just 63 games for the Otters. There are going to be players taken in the top 10 of the draft that he outscored as a 15 year old compared to their 17 year old seasons. Lawson Crouse is rated 4th by NHL Central Scouting and he only had 29-22-51 in 56 games.
As a 16 year old he produced 28-71-99 in 56 games. He was 4th in OHL scoring that year with 12 fewer games played than the winner…who was his teammate Connor Brown. He won the Most Sportsmanlike Trophy that year as well as the CHL Scholastic player of the year. Everybody who can speak to his character raves about him and he’s walking the walk, not just talking the talk.
As an aside, lots of Easterners who are grief stricken about the lottery results are hoping McDavid will pull a Lindros. His coach was asked by Reid Wilkins of 630 CHED if he thought that was a possibility and he said no. His Agent Jeff Jackson went on record saying if he was selected by the Oilers he would be honoured. And, he could have skipped out on Erie after they selected him and he could have demanded a trade to anywhere he wanted but didn’t. He seems like a levelheaded kid. He’ll come to Edmonton.
Moving on to this year, McDavid goes supernova on the OHL. He was dominating the league before breaking his hand in a fight (atta boy, Connor, but we’ll get someone else to do that for you now) and then playing for Team Canada at the WJC. As a result of the tournament and the injury he was limited to just 47 League games. In those 47 games he would score a shocking 44-76-120. He was averaging almost a goal per game!
He averaged 2.55 points per game in the OHL this past season. Nobody was even particularly near him. The closest person was Sam Bennett’s 2.18 points per game in just 11 games played. Mitch Marner’s 2.0 points per game was the closest anyone got over the full season. If we only look at his Even Strength stats (32-40-70) then he still averaged 1.53 points per game. Again nobody is close to him but his teammate Strome is 2nd with 1.16 Even Strength points per game.
He is half a point per game better than not just his age group, but the entire OHL. This isn’t even a down year in scoring. The high end of this year’s draft crop is elite with Strome and Marner 1&2 in OHL scoring (more games). These kids are stars in their own right and McDavid is outshining them by a significant degree. It’s incredible, really.
The Otters owner (Sherry Bassin) via the Oilers Now show with Bob Stauffer said McDavid is as good as anybody he’s ever seen at that level and surmised that he would be a 60 point player as a 17 year old in the NHL. The NHL Equivalency formula agrees with him. His season combined with his age and the league he belongs to suggests he would have an NHL Equivalency of 62 points. Wayne Gretzky says he is the best Junior player he's seen in 30 years (No pressure).This really looks like about as Plug & Play as you can get with a teenage kid in the NHL.
The OHL playoffs are still ongoing and McDavid has only appeared in 9 games so far because his team has been so dominant. In those 9 games McDavid already has 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points.
Nine. Games.
IN THE PLAYOFFS! When games are extremely tight and the other club will do everything in their power to shut down the opposition McDavid is still running at that 2.55 point per game pace. It’s incredible.
I have thoughts about what this means for the organization, the roster, moves in the summer and so on, but I’ll hold on to them for a bit and we’ll just digest the fact that the Oilers will be drafting McDavid in June. I still can't look at the numbers, the highlights, or hear the interviews without shaking my head.
This whole situation is unbelievable.
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