Top 100 Oilers: Connor McDavid (7B)

Photo credit:Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

6 years ago

On one hand, it could be argued it’s just short of ridiculous that Connor McDavid would be ranked in the top 10 on a list of the Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of all time after just 140 games in the NHL. In a city that has celebrated five Stanley Cups, what has McDavid won? In a city where Wayne Gretzky played, it seems premature to have McDavid within a $5 cab ride of the Great One on this list. I certainly thought so when I started it 24 months ago.

But, given what we’ve seen in those 140 games, I’m convinced McDavid belongs in the same company as Gretzky and five other HHOF players who won all those Cups. Ten or 15 years from now, he might be four or five spots higher. We’ll have to see about that. What I do know now is the image of a once great franchise that had been tarnished by a decade of failure and ineptitude took on a shine again on April 18, 2015, when the Oilers won the NHL draft lottery and the right to select McDavid first overall. On that day, everything changed.

Connor McDavid

Center — shoots L
Born Jan 13 1997 — Richmond Hill, ONT
Height 6.01 — Weight 190 [185 cm/86 kg]

Drafted by Edmonton Oilers

Round 1 #1 overall 2015 NHL Entry Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%	TOI	ATOI
2015-16	19	EDM	45	16	32	48	-1	18	105	15.2	850	18:53
2016-17	20	EDM	82	30	70	100	27	26	251	12.0	1733	21:08
Career			127	46	102	148	26	44	356	12.9	2582	20:20

PLAYOFFS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%	TOI	ATOI
2016-17	20	EDM	13	5	4	9	3	2	37	13.5	291	22:25
Career			13	5	4	9	3	2	37	13.5	291	22:25

AWARDS

2016-17 Art Ross Trophy

2016-17 Hart Memorial Trophy

2016-17 Ted Lindsay Award

NOTABLE

January 25, 2017; Anaheim, CA, USA; Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) moves in for a shot on goal against the defense of Anaheim Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler (4) during the third period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

In compiling this list, team success, Stanley Cup rings, weighed as heavily for me as anything. That’s why I’ve ranked some players higher on this list, even if they played secondary roles, than others who were clearly more talented and who had better numbers but never won anything. The seven players I have ranked ahead of McDavid on this list have a combined 32 Stanley Cup rings. Five of them have five rings each. Six of them are in the HHOF.

So, given all the silverware gathered by those above him, not to mention enough individual awards to fill a moving truck, what is McDavid doing here less than two full seasons and just two playoff rounds into his career? Well, in a hockey city where the last Cup was won seven years before McDavid was born, a hockey city rich in superlatives, No. 97 already has managed a few of his own. Just as significant, McDavid has put some swagger back in the step of fans around here after some truly dark days.

McDavid scored 30-70-100 last season to claim the Art Ross Trophy as NHL scoring leader. He is Edmonton’s first Art Ross winner since Gretzky won it in 1987. He became the first Oiler to reach 100 points since Doug Weight in 1995-96. McDavid’s Hart Memorial Trophy as MVP was the first since Mark Messier did it in 1990. When he was named captain on Oct. 5, 2016, McDavid became the youngest captain in NHL history. It has been, to say the least, a noteworthy 140 games.

THE STORY

Mar 30, 2017; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) celebrates after scoring a goal against the San Jose Sharks during the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz-USA TODAY Sports

How many Stanley Cups will McDavid win in Edmonton? How will he stack up statistically to the likes of Gretzky, Messier, Jari Kurri and Glenn Anderson by the time he’s done? I don’t have the answers, but with McDavid having just signed an eight-year contract extension worth $100 million, we’ve got lots of time to find out. The kid is 20. For my money, he’s the best player in the game right now. He’s got a decade of prime time ahead.

How great McDavid might become remains to be seen. Right now, he’s the most exciting player in the game. He sells tickets in every rink. He’s been the single biggest factor in the Oilers returning to contention after being also-rans for far too long. With McDavid, a talented young core and a great new building, how many unrestricted free agents now consider Edmonton an attractive destination? This used to be the Last Chance Motel. Not now. GM Pete Chiarelli won’t have to assume the position and beg UFAs to pretty please come to Edmonton the way Craig MacTavish, Steve Tambellini and Kevin Lowe did.

I refuse to draw any hard comparisons between McDavid and the Oiler team that is taking shape now and the great teams of the Boys on the Bus era led by Gretzky. I don’t imagine we will ever see the likes of them again in today’s NHL. Unless I’m mistaken, you’ve got to win one Cup before you can win five. That said, hopes are as high as they’ve been around this hockey town in three decades and from where I sit the best player on the planet is again draped in Edmonton silks. Let’s see where that takes us.

This series will look at the top 100 Edmonton Oilers from the NHL era 1979-80 to 2014-15, starting with 100 and working up.

PREVIOUSLY:

Nation Takes

Oilers Talk