Connor McDavid started off the season without recording a point in his first two matches. For anyone watching the games it was obvious they were going to come. Then, as McLellan put it, McDavid sort of “gave himself permission… to be the offensive talent we all know he is.
After two games we started to hear the calls from fans tired of hearing about McDavid that Eichel was better. Since then we haven’t been hearing the same thing. McDavid now leads the Oilers in scoring and has picked up 7 points in his last 4 games, looking dominant and confident doing it. He’s just 1 point off the Rookie scoring leader (Max Domi) right now.
Among the Power Play regulars on the team McDavid is tops among them in Points per 60 minutes at 7.47 (Letestu is higher but he was not a regular so his numbers are skewed right now). At even strength only Yakupov produces at a higher per 60 rate than McDavid right now as well. McDavid’s personal shooting percentage is through the roof, but we see an incredible amount of scoring chances created by the kid.
It’s actually a wonder he doesn’t have more points than he does.
If we break down how he’s been so effective in his own zone it’s clear that his Hockey IQ, Vision, and Puck Handling skills have all factored high, but his Speed is on a level that we simply don’t ever see. He creates space between himself and defenders where there doesn’t seem to be any. With that ability in his back pocket he can put himself in places on the ice nobody can fairly expect.
In short, his ability to go from “Defended… to “Wide Open… is game breaking. We are only 9 games into his career, but if teams do not adapt he should continue to pick up points with that dynamic speed burning defenders.
The points are spectacular, the talent is undeniable, but even I wasn’t fully expecting him to be a positive force with possession at 18 years old. As of today he is 3rd on the team in CF% at 51.3%. That’s a positive number on a team that generally does not have the puck. The wunderkind isn’t just a scorer, he’s driving possession of the puck.
The one thing we can say he isn’t excelling at is faceoffs. Much is going to be made of that, but it is very rare for teenagers to come into the NHL and perform well on the dot. The 31.8% faceoff percentage will be a number lots of people are going to point at because it let’s you discuss McDavid without gushing over everything, but let’s be real. Faceoffs are blown right out of proportion. LINEUP
Reinhart was back on the ice this morning but Davidson was skating with Gryba. After the terrible start on Friday we are expecting Talbot to go in against LA. Based on practice Jack Michaels reported that he believes Pakarinen should be in for Slepyshev on the 4th line.
Hall RNH Klinkhammer Pouliot McDavid Yakupov Korpikoski Lander Purcell Gazdic Letestu Pakarinen
Klefbom Schultz Sekera Fayne Davidson Gryba
Talbot
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) Jultz’d. The game against the Capitals made it abundantly clear that the Oilers will have a very difficult time overcoming terrible games from Justin Schultz. At 23 minutes a night with leads on EV TOI, PP TOI, and 2nd in SH TOI the puck moves through Schultz a lot. He was directly responsible for at least two goals on Friday that made him look like a green rookie. When he has bad games, the Oilers have bad games.
2) McDavid vs Hollywood. Arguably the most dangerous asset that McDavid has is his speed. While everybody “knows… he’s fast, even his teammates can’t believe the way he moves around the ice. During his inaugural run through the NHL he’s establishing with the opposition the same realization. If Los Angeles doesn’t respect that speed he is going to make some pretty good defensemen look foolish, as he’s done to several NHLers already.
3) Control. Yes, the Kings have only 1 more win than the Oilers, but once again they are near the top of the league in possession metrics. They were last year as well but still found themselves lower in the standings than anyone believed they would be. With just 13 goals scored in 7 games it’s easy to see where the problem lies. Nevertheless, they are 2nd in Corsi Percentage and 2nd in Fenwick Percentage. They have the puck a lot but it appears they are missing the net a lot. It’s always a big test for the Oilers to see how they match up against the Kings and their structure.
Puck drops tonight at 7:30 PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet. Game On!
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