McDavid had a great summer of workouts but right now there's just no question in my mind that he doesn't have the strength to do everything he does in juniors. He gets pushed around at times in juniors, he certainly will in the NHL to start. Of course Kane was even smaller but he plays a different game. McDavid plays hard in the dirty areas, hangs on down low, etc. The main factors behind his play in those areas are the quickness of his hands and feet, his vision, and his IQ, but he also uses what size he does have more than he'll immediately be able to in the NHL. He will have to adjust to that until he gets stronger. He may be listed at a similar height and weight to Girgensons but there's no way he's as strong as Zemgus is.
I just think it's very hard to formulate expectations for what he could or should do if he's on this team next season. What kind of situation would he find himself in? What kind of strength does he add this offseason? Is he being told to let loose and provide the team with a spark or is he being told to play within the pace of the team, try his best defensively, etc. It's not a given that he'd start on the top PP unit. Reinhart didn't get any PP time at first.
Obviously he will not be able to do everything that he can do in juniors. But we kind of take that into account since I don't think he will score anywhere near that level. Some of his individual hero hockey won't work, but his passing will work even better at this level with better team positional play and finishing ability. I think his game will translate excellently to the NHL.
Very few players are as brute force strong as Zemgus is at his weight, and I don't think Zemgus will be as powerful. But they have a similar frame and weight, which will let McDavid still use his puck protection skills excellently. There are many guys in the NHL who are not bigger than McDavid that excel in dirty goals.
I'm not having expectations of him that I will hold against him if he doesn't get there, I'm simply projecting what I think he is capable of him. It's the same as when everyone in the world looks at him and says he is one of the best prospects in over a decade. Except I am giving a hard number for what that great prospect talk translates into actual production.
He certainly could be told to play conservatively or within the team, but I mean come on. This team needs offense and they are not going to load him with pk time as has been agreed by everybody. They are not going to make him a part of some shutdown line, nor is he playing in the bottom six with Des, Kaleta, and Flynn. It is possible a worst case scenario of coaching stupidity could happen, but I don't think I should be overly conservative in a projection just to account for that possibility.
As to Reinhart not getting pp time. I think that was dumb by Nolan, but its irrelevant because I love Reinhart as a player, but McDavid is such a jump above him in terms of readiness for the NHL as an 18 year old that it's absurd.
