Since being picked first overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2015, Connor McDavid has had about as impressive a career as anyone could’ve expected.
A phenom pretty much ever since the first time he laced up a pair of skates, the 27-year-old Oilers captain has built up quite the resume over the past nine years. Having won three Hart Trophies as league MVP and five Art Ross Trophies for leading the league in points, McDavid is as electric an NHL player that’s played the game since Wayne Gretzky’s retirement, and as surefire a first-ballot Hall of Famer even if he were to retire tomorrow.
McDavid is currently leading the playoffs with 31 points in 18 games, three up on teammate Leon Draisaitl and 12 more than any player not on Edmonton left alive in the postseason (Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk has 19).
But at least two people on the planet don’t quite believe in his skillset: one of my university roommates, and Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote.
Ahead of Edmonton meeting the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final later this week, Cote started off a recent list of 13 thoughts with a bang.
“Connor McDavid is overrated. Boom. He puts up big, impressive stats, yes. Fine. But should he really be called ‘generational,’ called the best player in the sport, when in nine seasons he has yet to lead his team to a Stanley Cup?” Cote posited in a column today.
Cote then compared McDavid’s championship resume to Gretzky’s, highlighting the Oilers’ five Stanley Cup wins from 1984 through 1990. (Gretzky, famously, had been traded to Los Angeles after the 1988 season, so it’s not quite clear why Cote added in the last one when arguing in favour of Gretzky.)
“He has not proved beyond-stats transcendent, able to lift a franchise to ultimate heights,” Cote added of McDavid.
Well, we’ll see exactly how McDavid fares once things get going on the biggest stage he’s ever played when Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final begins this Saturday at 6 pm MT.