Every single summer, Lowetide does a tremendous series over on his blog about expectations for every play on the Oilers in the upcoming season. He calls it the realistic expectations series, and honestly it’s one of my favorite things to read every year. He touched on Connor McDavid and his rookie season here.
I’ve talked a lot about McDavid on this website before, whether it was draft night, right after the draft itself, or in between the time of the lottery and the fateful selection. I’ve written at least five pieces on the young kid, so I don’t need to repeat myself on his talent level, we know he’s a stud in the making.
One thing I haven’t touched on? My expectations for the young forward in his rookie season, which no doubt will start in October.
What They’re Saying:
Lowetide, as always, has a pretty measured approach to the young player. He has McDavid playing in 70 games this season, while scoring 23-39-62. That’s .886 points per game, which is EXTREMELY good for a rookie in the NHL, a man’s game.
Others have pegged McDavid for a much higher total. Sean Wingrave, a fellow writer here, has McDavid pegged for 73 points this season. Robin Brownlee of OilersNation has McDavid in the range of 69 points, while Sportsnet is projecting him to score at a clip of .94 PPG, which if my math is right has him around 77 points.
I’ve seen some fans project McDavid at around 50 points, which is too low in my mind. I’ve also seen fans project McDavid for 100 or more points, which is too high in my mind. McDavid is a great talent, but 100 points is tough for even Crosby, Seguin and Stamkos to hit.
Will He Be An Impact Player:
I think he will be, you think he will be, but the Oilers are going to be careful with him. Peter Chiarelli mentioned right off that bat that he doesn’t expect McDavid to be an impact player this coming season. I’d be surprised if that was the case, but the Oilers are clearly tempering expectations here.
What’ll It Be, Doc?:
Connor McDavid is an interesting case. We’ve seen talented rookies suit up for the Oilers before, Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins among many others, but we haven’t seen a talent like this in a long, long time. Connor McDavid is a franchise level player, cut from the same cloth as a guy like Sidney Crosby.
I don’t think Oiler fans realize how special of a player McDavid truly is. We know he’s good, but we don’t want to get our hopes up because hope has burned us before. People, this kid is going to be the real deal. There will be growing pains, but Connor McDavid is going to be Edmonton’s next true superstar player.
He’s also coming into a very good situation. He has a veteran coach who is proven in leading talented players, and he’s got a veteran GM who has built some very good teams before.
Most importantly, there is actually a supporting cast around him. McDavid isn’t doing this alone like Hall and RNH did five years ago. McDavid will have a proven NHL scorer in Taylor Hall on his wing, a guy who has finished in the top ten in points twice already.
He’ll have a strong center in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to fall back on, and he’ll have a proven skilled winger in Jordan Eberle to play with. Benoit Pouliot, Teddy Purcell and Nail Yakupov are all formidable pieces to go with McDavid up front, the supporting cast is better than anything Hall had or RNH had when they made the transition.
The Oilers can toss the RNH line out at home against the tough opposition and leave McDavid to feast on the second tier, something that previous players never had, and something that is more important than anyone truly realizes.
I think McDavid will have an exceptional season for the Edmonton Oilers, one of the best by a rookie in a long, long time in this league. He’s going to be an impact player in the NHL, and I’m willing to wager that it’ll be right out of the gate.
As for a prediction? I’ll say McDavid suits up in 79 games and scores 27 goals while adding 49 assists for 76 points as a rookie.
That’s my bet, what’s yours?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
