In Praise of Connor McDavid

The Connor McDavid era in Edmonton has begun (again) in earnest. After missing 37 games with a broken clavicle, the Boy Wonder is back in Oiler blue and is absolutely lighting it up. It was a long 3 months without him in the lineup, and it’s hard not to think about where the Oilers would be had he been healthy. The chemistry he’s got with Jordan Eberle is mind-boggling, and it’s clear he makes everyone around him better. (Selfishly, I wish that he and Hall will play together again so that Hall can benefit from McDavid’s skill and boost his point production. But that’s just me.)

Tuesday against Columbus, McDavid scored what might be the goal of the year. He turned a 1-on-3 at the Columbus blueline into a breakaway goal in a way that maybe only he could.

HHHHHNNNNGGGGGGG #WelcomeBackConnorpic.twitter.com/dwZw0zcloK

— Jeanshorts (@JSBMjeanshorts) February 3, 2016

I was on my way to the bar to watch the last half of the game when he scored, but the reaction of both Jack Michaels and Bob Stauffer on CHED was kind of unreal; it was reminiscent of Pierre McGuire’s Dustin Tokarski overreaction (and I loved everything about that). It had been 3-4 minutes after the goal when I finally got inside, and the bar was still buzzing. I saw the slow motion replay after Sportsnet came back from commercials, and even at that speed it was pretty amazing. For me, the thing that’s most impressive about that goal is that he turned 3 professional hockey players into absolute dumdums in approximately 0.4 seconds, and made it look easy.

I wrote about him back in September, for our “Just Who Is….?” series, and had this to say:

There isn’t much else to say about him that hasn’t already been said by much better writers than I, so instead of giving you their opinions, I’ll say this: Having McDavid will change this franchise. We may not be able to keep our current core of players past their current contracts because of salary cap issues, but the next 3-4 years should be absolute magic. Am I predicting a Stanley Cup win? Not necessarily, but with the other pieces the team has started putting into place, I wouldn’t rule that out either.

Can he live up to the hype? Hopefully. He’s more of a Crosby than a Daigle, and that bodes well for his rookie year and beyond. I’m almost certain he won’t be a bust like Jason Bonsignore, or Steve Kelly, or even Rob Schremp. He has the potential to be the face of the franchise for the next 15-20 years, and I’m already dreaming about his name being engraved on the Stanley Cup. All he has to do is play his game and learn how to adapt to the NHL, and he should be fine.

I know it’s only been 15 games, but the kid is pretty amazing. I was lucky enough to see him play in person on Halloween, and I was blown away by his speed and (to use a cliche) his hockey sense. His skill set is so advanced in comparison with almost everyone on the ice that it’s like he’s playing a video game in demo mode and everyone else is trying. Sure he’s going to make mistakes, and I’m sure he’ll have a streak or two where hes held pointless, but he is the real deal.

And he’s ours.

Hey guys!! Connor McDavid is an Oiler! ?????

— Megan (@mig14) February 5, 2016

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