McDavid in the dot?

[Oddbob]

Who gives a rip if he lost all 100% of his faceoffs, if he puts up 90+ points a season he can lose every faceoff ever and what does it matter? Face-offs are overrated anyways, as most teams average close to 50% anyhow, so it is all pretty even, and lots of lost faceoffs ended up being good for the losing team and vice versa.

 

[voxel]

Nylander is the guy who is actually great at face-offs. 55% as a 21 year old.

Huh? Draisaitl from the same draft (turned 22 late Oct) has the same FO% as WN.

Give McJesus another year to develop.

 

[Brobust]

Huh? Draisaitl from the same draft (turned 22 late Oct) has the same FO% as WN.

Give McJesus another year to develop.

Well, my response was to a guy saying Matthews was great at face-offs. I was just letting him know that Nylander was better. Nothing to do with McDavid or Draisaitl.

 

[voxel]

New faceoff rule is likely playing a part. Some players have changed considerably from it from my own team Anisimov went from horrible to winning basically 50% of all his draws this season

Yeah, Nuge is winning far more face offs than before. It has to be change in the rules.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins stats - Edmonton Oilers - Puckbase

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Matthews was 46% in the dot the year he stepped into the NHL. Hardly elite.

Remember, Auston Matthews is an elite faceoff man, and he is significantly better than Connor McDavid defensively, and is a significantly better possession player, despite all of the statistics that point to the contrary. If you just say it enough it will eventually become the consensus.

 

[ponder]

He's terrible at faceoffs, but he's still the best player in the league. He'll very likely improve with time, most guys start out pretty poor at faceoffs, with his elite smarts and dedication, plus pretty good strength, you have to imagine he has the ability to get good at them.

Of course, there are some guys who never improve on the dot - Malkin comes to mind. Although, it didn't stop him from being a regular top 2-3 player in the league, just as it won't stop McDavid from being the top player of his generation, even if he does happen to stay weak on draws.