We are going through the list that I consider to be the Oilers’ top 10 most important prospects. This is not strictly a list of the most skilled young or unestablished players in the organization. In the first installment I explained my thought process and I’ll be including that paragraph in each one of these posts just so I don’t have to figure out 10 different ways of saying the same thing.
I plan on going over the top 10 most important prospects in the Oilers’ organization. This is a little different (though not by much) than going through what I consider are the 10 best prospects in the organization. The key difference is that their ranking is determined both by their potential as well as how much the NHL club needs them to succeed. For example, I believe Iiro Pakarinen is a better prospect than several players on this list but as another winger in an organization flush with them I don’t have him in my top 10 most important prospects.
We are finally at the number 1 position in our list of top 10 most important Oiler prospects. I tried to see if it was possible for me to wrestle this player out of the top spot but I found the exercise impossible. The top prospect in the Oilers organization is simply too transformative to be considered anything other than the most important prospect in the system. It’s also a title he will only truly be able to hold for another month or so because he will very quickly establish himself as an NHL player, shedding the title of prospect. The Generational Connor McDavid is Edmonton’s most important prospect, likely their most important drafted player ever.
10) Jujhar Khaira 9) Kyle Platzer 8) Greg Chase 7) Anthon Slepyshev 6) Bogdan Yakimov 5) Laurent Brossoit 4) Griffin Reinhart 3) Leon Draisaitl 2) Darnell Nurse
1
Connor McDavid hasn’t played one second of NHL hockey and he’s already responsible for the biggest change the Oilers organization has experienced in decades. When the numbers were randomly drawn and Edmonton won the right to Draft Connor McDavid the city was elated. MacT and Howson were in Europe dancing in the hallways as per their own admission. Everybody in the organization was celebrating, except perhaps Bob Nicholson who was just about to get down to work.
Nicholson was named the CEO of the Oilers Entertainment group just 2 days after the McDavid lottery. Kevin Lowe was to step out of Hockey Ops completely. Two days later Chiarelli was spotted in Edmonton. 2 Days after that the Oilers would demote MacTavish and Howson to name Peter Chiarelli the President and GM of the club. A week into the World Championships the new Oiler brass had a hand-shake agreement in place with Head Coach Todd McLellan. These changes may have happened without Connor McDavid, but I don’t know if there’s any other way to view him than as the catalyst for making it all happen so quickly.
Within days of even acquiring the opportunity to draft him months down the road, the Oilers had effectively dismantled the Boys on the Bus who were running the team into the ground. All of the replacements came with the highest pedigrees and reputations available. Not even drafted, Connor McDavid brought a level a respectability to the Oilers operation that hasn’t existed in a long time.
When we weigh how important an addition McDavid is to Edmonton we have to take into consideration how transformative he was before even stepping on the ice. Once we start talking about what he’s capable of doing ON the ice, that’s when his status as the most important prospect in the organization becomes set in stone.
As per the tradition of this series, here are McDavid’s scoring totals dating back to 2012-2013 vis HockeyDB.
2012-13 Erie Otters OHL 63GP, 25G-41A-66P, 36 PIM 2013-14 Erie Otters OHL 56GP, 28A-71A-99P, 20 PIM 2014-15 Erie Otters OHL 47GP, 44G-76A-120P, 48 PIM
Connor McDavid was granted Exceptional Status so that he could play in the OHL at the age of 15. Bear that in mind when you review those scoring numbers for McDavid. He was better than a point per game in the most competitive junior league in the world at the age of 15. He had the 2nd highest points per game in the OHL when he was a 16 year old. And last year he dominated the league to such a degree that he truly had no peers within range of him.
McDavid’s point production was truly well beyond what everyone else in the OHL was capable of doing. Limiting the criteria to even just those with 10 games played, the closest player to McDavid’s 2.55 Points per Game was the older Sam Bennett with 2.18 Points per Game in just 11 games played. If we only include those who played closer to a full season then the only person to reach 2 Points per Game was Mitch Marner. The gap between the CHL’s best player and the rest of the field was ridiculous.
Using CHLStats.com’s Estimated Points per 60 Minutes tool McDavid was again at the head of the class by a significant degree. He produced an estimated 5.58 points per 60 minutes while the next closest player in the OHL was 4.72 eP/60. Sam Bennett, who was his closest rival in traditional P/G registered just 3.83 eP/60.
Almost somehow more impressive than his regular season totals, McDavid would continue to produce offensively during the OHL playoffs despite being the target of every possible defensive scheme. He went an astounding 20GP, 21-28-49 in the OHL playoffs. He was better than a goal per game during the playoffs. Combining all the games he played last year he went 67GP, 65-104-169.
McDavid has been compared to Crosby, Lemieux, Bure, and Gretzky. He is the last great prospect since Sidney Crosby arrived roughly a decade ago. Dale Hawerchuk said he has the hands of Mario Lemieux, the speed of Pavel Bure, and the head of Wayne Gretzky. There is almost nothing that can be added to get the point across that this kid does it all.
I have personally never seen someone skate so fast, so effortlessly. As Taylor Hall said at the BioSteel camp they both attended, he glides faster than most people go when skating at top gear. He debuted, of sorts, in Oiler silks while at the team’s development camp where the Oilers opened Rexall Place up to accommodate public demand to see the kid practice. At the scrimmage held at the end of camp he proceeded to score 5 goals against young men trying their best to make impressions and earn contracts.
The Oilers already had a player in RNH who was going to be their 1C for years to come. The club needed a strong 2C to compete in the West and what they found was so much better than that. Connor McDavid stands to be the best player to suit up for the Oilers since the glory days. He is far and away the best 18 year old player on the planet and should be the favorite to win the Calder (a trophy no Oilers player has ever won). He is especially well insulated on the Oilers who can continue to play RNH against the toughest competition and with a player like Taylor Hall who is in my estimation one of the top 3 Left Wingers on the planet.
Connor McDavid is a generational talent and a transformative player for the Oilers. His addition to the team ushered in meaningful change to an organization suffering from rot at its highest levels. There is a level of respectability for the club and the way it is being run now that is in no small part due to Edmonton winning a lottery. His talent level is transcendent of the highly touted rookies who preceded him on the Oilers. That isn’t a knock against those players, it’s the same of all the other 1st Overall picks who came into the NHL after Sidney Crosby. McDavid is, simply put, special.
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