For the playoffs? MacKinnon or McDavid
- Thread starter HuimaHuima
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Ararana
Registered User
MacKinnon, because he's capable of successfully dumping the puck in OT 
Also,
Also,
Unspecified
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Apr 29, 2015
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SA16
Sixstring
Very simple.
If you want a better chance to win - McDavid
If you want a better chance to lose - MacKinnon
If you want a better chance to win - McDavid
If you want a better chance to lose - MacKinnon
The regular season is long grueling hockey and to play Mackinnon's style of hockey at 100% all season isn't super doable. While I believe that some of the difference is smaller sample size in playoffs (although Mackinnon is building a decent sample size now) , I do think that he has another gear for playoffs, a gear that could not be sustained for an entire season. Also playoff hockey has tighter checking and greater physicality and Mackinnon is built for that. Mcdavid's sample size is really small for showing who he is in playoffs but I think it's foolish to think that there isn't an actual difference between playoff performance and regular season performance.
People saying MacKinnon plays with better players need to give their heads a shake. McDavid was glued to Draisaitl the whole series and MacKinnon still out produced him.
MacKinnon plays for a better team but that contributes to team success not individual. It’s irrelevant Colorado’s third or second line produces because neither McDavid or MacKinnon play with second line players. Not to mention MacKinnon went head to head against O’Rielly. What shut down centre did McDavid play against?
MacKinnon plays for a better team but that contributes to team success not individual. It’s irrelevant Colorado’s third or second line produces because neither McDavid or MacKinnon play with second line players. Not to mention MacKinnon went head to head against O’Rielly. What shut down centre did McDavid play against?
Obviously bias, but for the next few playoffs Mackinnon.
I don't think McDavid has figured out playoff hockey yet. Still a great player and a positive player in the playoffs, but it doesn't seem like he's figured out how to dominate the tighter checking games. He will though, and once he does he will be a force.
I don't think McDavid has figured out playoff hockey yet. Still a great player and a positive player in the playoffs, but it doesn't seem like he's figured out how to dominate the tighter checking games. He will though, and once he does he will be a force.
If McDavid put up 9 points in 4 games the Oilers are probably still playing hockey.
It’s not hard to see MacKinnon plays a game more suited for the playoffs, he’s bigger, more physical with a better shot.
McDavid’s cute dangles don’t work in the playoffs, the Jets shut down his speed through the neutral zone and he was invisible the whole series.
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SA16
Sixstring
6 points in 4 games. 3 of them were empty net goals which were not even possible for McDavid because his team was never in the situation for them.
GermanSpitfire
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Cousin Eddie
You Serious Clark?
- Nov 3, 2006
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Out of curiosity, what would lead one to conclude that Mcdavid is the better player when it comes to playoffs? I agree with your idea that you take the better player. But based on those playoff resumes there’s no argument to be had (that I’m aware of anyway) that Mcdavid is better.
John Mandalorian
2022 Avs: The First Dance
- Nov 29, 2018
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I agree with this. MacKinnon practices more throttle control and picks his spots more. Take game 3 for example. The Avs had enough secondary scoring so it wasn't as necessary to assert himself. He had a huge impact late in game 2 when it became more necessary. I feel like he operates on power save similarly during the regular season. I think McDavid is going full tilt towards scoring all the time every game by comparison. I feel like MacKinnon picks his spots more. I also feel that MacKinnon is more committed defensively.
Llamamoto
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JohnnyBerts
Registered User
McDavid on the Avs centering Landy and Ranty scores 130 points this year and wins every award and probably the Cup. Don’t let a crappy Oilers team fool you into thinking Nate is at Connors level (but Nate is great too).
You take McDavid still. Still the most dangerous player in the game.
Oilers just don't have the team make up to use him properly. I'd stack a top line to act as distraction then throw McDavid in randomly to get away from line matching. Use a 3 center, 4 winger pair set up.
The top line has to be a legitimate threat, then you can look for holes with McDavid. Trying to line match 25 minutes of McDavid on up to three lines would be a nightmare.
Oilers just don't have the team make up to use him properly. I'd stack a top line to act as distraction then throw McDavid in randomly to get away from line matching. Use a 3 center, 4 winger pair set up.
The top line has to be a legitimate threat, then you can look for holes with McDavid. Trying to line match 25 minutes of McDavid on up to three lines would be a nightmare.
Different year. Considering three games went to OT I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that.
AD1066
Registered User
- Sep 30, 2011
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This site loves its narratives about individual players when it comes the playoffs, context be damned.
I think MacKinnon is one of the very best players in the world, but I don't think he'd do any better in McDavid's shoes. Alternatively, the Avs are unlikely to be worse off with McDavid at the helm.
To take a more extreme example, ~8 years ago we had an influx of "Toews vs. Crosby" threads, the justification being Toews is a "born winner" and "all he does is win". As if Kane, Keith, Hossa, and Sharp had nothing do with Toews having more playoff success.
In this case the offensive gap between McDavid and MacKinnon is smaller, but I'd still argue the disparity in this poll is reactionary nonsense in the 24 hours following a disappointing Oilers exit. Flip their positions and the narrative flips as well. "McDavid elevates his game in the playoffs vs. will MacKinnon ever get it done?"
Cousin Eddie
You Serious Clark?
- Nov 3, 2006
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I think you misunderstood. I’m talking about from a pure individual standpoint. I was never one of the Toews over Crosby people because I understand one player doesn’t make a team. Team success doesn’t come from one player. Nathan Mackinnon hasn’t won shit either. That success comes from a team. Mcdavid is in a tire fire of an organization and I don’t expect him to carry that team to the promise land.
What I’m saying though is individually, Mcdavid can’t hold the jockstrap of Nathan Mackinnon from their playoff performances. Again, not wins. I’m talking individual dominance. Mackinnon has a drastically better track record offensively, defensively and physically in the playoffs. It’s not a team narrative. It’s Mcdavid performing much worse in the postseason relative to his regular season stats vs Nathan Mackinnon who has done the opposite and trails only Gretzky and Lemieux all time in playoff points/gm.
People claiming Mackinnon is a winner and Mcdavid isn’t is nonsense. It takes a 19 man unit to accomplish that. I’m simply talking about how much better Nathan Mackinnon the hockey player is than Connor Mcdavid in the playoffs at this point of their careers. We’re talking about a 1.43ppg playoff performer in Mackinnon vs a 1.04ppg playoff performer in Mcdavid. Not Colorado vs Edmonton.
Seriously I don't know how anyone can see this and still pick McDavid. Regadless of their teams people have been on worse teams than McDavid and faced better teams at the same time and still put up over a point per game in the playoffs. 22 points in 21 games and that includes 3 secondary assists in 1 game this series and only 1 goal in a 4-0 sweep, and 9 points in 4 games in a preliminary round against a non playoff team. His team not advancing is one thing and largely not his fault, but his individual performance is worse than MacKinnon when he was just 18 years old, and the Avs were hardly a stacked team then and went up against Minnesota who was good defensively. It actually is not close so far.
Pyrophorus
Registered User
And also to be fair MacKinnon at the same point in his career had vastly outperformed McDavid still in the playoffs.
Yeah when you include defensive and physical play it really is a no brainer. The gap is enormous.
MacKinnon, because he's capable of successfully dumping the puck in OT
Also,
Pretty crazy how the only players ahead of him are Gretzky and Lemieux and/or played in the 80s and early 90s. Even if we take the best playoff performers since 1995 after the same amount of games I'm pretty sure no one else would be ahead of him, including Crosby.
