Any chance that McDavid could be the GOAT?

[PaulD]

McDavid peak is 5th best ever.

No one will ever beat out the top 4

99
9
4
66

He could seperate himself from Crosby, hull, and be the 5th best all time of things go for the bear but he has 5-6 Ross/Hart/Lindsay competing years left needs to win atleast 3 more of each trophies for me to have him as clear cut 5th best if he doesnt end up with a cup

Well said.

 

[PaulD]

It took you until a goal against Vancouver this season to realize he scored goals on the norm like this!

anything is possible, doubt he will be the best ever because Gretzky is literally untouchable as for being my the most skilled, maybe I mean players in this era have better training, information, strategic studies, everything has improved in this day and age to make athletes more skilled. If the guys back in the day had that I’m sure they would of been too.

he’s the best player in the league and I know
Mackinnon can go beast and all but Connor stands alone. I mean there are a few players who already have had better careers then Mackinnon, who didn’t even hit 60 points more then once until his fifth season, Connor hasn’t had a season where he hasn’t scored 100 pts if he plays fifty games at least. It’s not even close I’m not
Trying to rip on Mack, hes the second best center I’m just using that tidbit to illustrate Connor stands alone tier wise but the others like Mack are close.

Hard to argue with that. Yet I gotta add, if Im starting a seven game play off series and I can pick any center in the league? Im taking MacKinnon as my center for a play off run.

All time ? I would take Mario at center for a play off run.

 

[PaulD]

My favourire Gretzky stat is he leads the league in goals scored and if you take all of them away, he’s still the leagues leading scorer all time. That or the 92 goal season.

50 goals in 39 games.

Scoring 5 in his 39th.

 

[PaulD]

I really wish people would stop saying this stuff. You don't determine who is the Greatest of all time by using a criteria of placing players into other eras. Why don't we put Gretzky into the 1940s and watch him score 300 pts. This is silly. Or magically place an average player from 2040 into todays game and call them the GOAT because they destroy. How can any serious hockey person use this criteria to rate players? The game evolves and becomes more skilled every year so you can only determine the caliber of a player by comparing him to his peers of the time. And obviously Gretzky dominated his peers in a way nobody ever did BEFORE or since. And McDavid clearly has not come close to that kind of dominance.

Simply nailed it.

On comparing players from one era to another. Never heard anyone describe it better.

 

[PaulD]

Depends on the criteria. If we're talking stats, then there's no way in hell, no one will ever touch Gretzky. But it's pretty obvious that if you take McDavid and place him in his era, he would put up the same stats and perhaps even more. Go watch a vintage game and see how the goalies play and then watch a goalie today, it's pretty hilarious how terrible goalies were back then. I'm pretty sure Lucic today could score 50 in a season back then.

Messier scored 50. Once

Second to Gretz in scoring in the 80s was Peter Statsny. Never scored 50.

 

[pucksakes666]

He’ll be the goat if he can win the art Ross like Mario well missing 30 games in a year

 

[Mbraunm]

I would argue McDavd is the greatest and most dynamic skater who has ever played the game. However, it takes far more than that to be comparable to Gretz or Mario. McDavid’s hockey IQ, although amazing and elite, is not close to Gretz. Gretz simply saw the game with different vision and anticipation than anyone who has ever played. He was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers. This is what it will take for someone to be comparable to Gretz. They will have to see and process the game on a completely different level than elite IQ level talent is capable of doing.

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

McDavid is the best player in the league but he has a 0% chance of being the GOAT over Gretzky.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

haha no win something 1st

 

[Blowfish]

Crazy to think of all the firsts due to S#*t draft pick luck and the oilers are still this bad!

I'm sure McDavid is wanting out!

 

[Shinjuku Calling]

there is not.

 

[chauron]

Just asking,

Do you see McDavid as the best two-way forward in NHL? Offensively and with the puck, but how about otherwise? In order for him to be GOAT, he’d need to be the best offensively, defensively and strategy-wise. Would he still be the best in all of that?

I’d say Lemieux and Gretzky, perhaps prime Jagr were at least as good.

 

[Reindl87]

He hast not been able to separate himself from Draisaitl for over two years now. Just like Crosby he started his career on a goat Level trajectory, but as Crosby he has not found that extra gear both Gretzky and Lemieux found a few years into their careers. To be fair his shit show of an Organisation does not help matters either. He should demand a trade after the season.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

can't even start the convo without multiple cups and conn smythe's

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

Why didn't he just skate to the bench instead?

Or cover the Horvat? Or hell even that third Oilers player who looked at Horvat and still ignored him? This is a McDavid and Draisaitl problem, sure, but this team is a joke defensively. This is hockey 101.

Im glad I have a prime example from this year and McDavid skated hard and tried, but was completely wrong in what to do. Makes Larsson have to rethink how to play defense and he did the right thing.

 

[DueDiligence]

Lemieux absolutely did, and already next season overtook Gretzky as the best player in the league. In Europe there were great players that would have been among the top scorers in the NHL like they are today.

If there were all these great European players who weren't playing in the NHL in the 80s why was Gretzky the leading scorer in every international tournament he played in after age 18?

 

[Fighter]

Just by the numbers nobody can come close to Gretzky, but having watched Lemieux we can say that as far as skills go at least we can have a conversation.
McDavid? Generational talent, fun to watch and all, but he's not nowhere near close to those two.

 

[Video Nasty]

McDavid is in every hockey pool Im in.

Gretz wasn't permitted in any.

Simply because if you had Gretz you won the pool before a game was played.

Also, his goals and assists were often separated as two separate players.

 

[holy]

He’s one of the WGOATs. Not really that special, but the league needs a best. The more the game progresses the more the peak of being the best goes down.

 

[Notsince67]

99 was the Picasso of hockey. 378 goals in his final year of Pee Wee pretty well foretold what was going to come.
If he is ever to be surpassed by anyone, we will have an idea well before he turns pro.

 

[BrockLobster]

Top 20. Hes not mario or jagr for that matter

 

[T REX]

Absolutely 100% NO.

Not a chance. Zero. Nada. Zilch.

McDavid is a generational talent but he's no Gretzky nor in the convo.

 

[Albatros]

If there were all these great European players who weren't playing in the NHL in the 80s why was Gretzky the leading scorer in every international tournament he played in after age 18?

If? CSKA Moscow alone was as good or better than the Edmonton Oilers. The NHL had less than a handful of European players of comparable level.

 

[DueDiligence]

If? CSKA Moscow alone was as good or better than the Edmonton Oilers. The NHL had less than a handful of European players of comparable level.

I can't be bothered pulling more facts to disprove your nonsense. You makes claims and don't back them up with any facts. You don't try to prove your claims; you just keep saying stupid things and pretend they are correct.

 

[Albatros]

I can't be bothered pulling more facts to disprove your nonsense. You makes claims and don't back them up with any facts. You don't try to prove your claims; you just keep saying stupid things and pretend they are correct.

Soviet teams won the Super Series with 55 wins, 10 draws, and 33 losses. A pretty good record exclusively on the road. CSKA played Edmonton in 1986 winning 6:3. The NHL might still have been the better league all things considered, but it wasn't the behemoth it is today.