The Creativity of McDavid

[VoluntaryDom]

What is required to be the best player of all time?

It’s hard to say and depends on the person but for me it’s the player who, at his absolute best, played the best hockey. Again a vague term and tough to define, I don’t usually like going into all time rankings/historical comparisons and things of that nature.

 

[sepHF]

Really? EP reminds me much more of the way datsyuk made people look stupid more so than anyone else! Not saying EP is on McDavid level overall, but McDavids magic is really only his speed, not so much his hands or creativity.

While I agree speed is McDavid's greatest asset he has amazing hands and creativity to go along with it. You don't win back-to-back Art Ross trophies on speed alone.

 

[Psychoil]

Really? EP reminds me much more of the way datsyuk made people look stupid more so than anyone else! Not saying EP is on McDavid level overall, but McDavids magic is really only his speed, not so much his hands or creativity.

I agrred with ur second statement in this thread

 

[missinthejets]

No one else can maintain control at high speed? Really?

Not as well as McDavid no. Pretty much everyone else slows down with the puck on their stick, McDavid seems to get faster and still have complete control of it. It's what makes him so dangerous.

 

[AvsFan29]

Not as well as McDavid no. Pretty much everyone else slows down with the puck on their stick, McDavid seems to get faster and still have complete control of it. It's what makes him so dangerous.

McDavid isn't the only player in the league that can skate fast and stick handle

 

[Future GOAT]

I don't think there's anything easy about Basketball. Just like there isn't anything very easy about most sports when you're talking about playing at the levels these superstar once-in-a-generation athletes do.

Oh for sure it's not an easy sport I wasn't saying it was, I was saying in comparison to.

It's not quite as difficult as a sport like Hockey.

 

[Future GOAT]

McDavid isn't the only player in the league that can skate fast and stick handle

He's the only one that can do it that good at that speed. He's in a tier of his own, then you have other guys a level or so down, like MacKinnon you are alluding to.

 

[AvsFan29]

He's the only one that can do it that good at that speed. He's in a tier of his own, then you have other guys a level or so down, like MacKinnon you are alluding to.

I'm not alluding to MacKinnon. Hes the obvious choice. There are lots of players that can move quick and handle the puck. I personally don't feel like McDavid is that much better than MacKinnon. It's a coin toss most nights.

 

[Coffey]

McDavid isn't the only player in the league that can skate fast and stick handle

 

[Coffey]

Don't forget your purse

You saw the gif. You know I took it. And you’re still wrong about anyone being as fast and in control as 97.

 

[authentic]

Historically this season and next are the peak of his prime. Just sayin'.

?

He's 21.

 

[Sam Spade]

He's 21?

This is his 22 year old season.

Look at the greatest players in the games history and for the majority of them the most productive season occurs in the 21-24 year old range. I mean the big huge 92 goal, 65 goal, 200 point season type stuff.

There are exceptions of course, Bobby Hull had his greatest season at 30, Jean Beliveau at 27, but not as many as you might think. Not sure if Patrick Kane is an all-time great but his great season was at 27 as well. Just saying that the career defining season comes early for the most of the greats.

 

[Agent Zub]

He might be the best player in any sport all time

Yea leo Messi wants a word with you

 

[authentic]

This is his 22 year old season.

Look at the greatest players in the games history and for the majority of them the most productive season occurs in the 21-24 year old range. I mean the big huge 92 goal, 65 goal, 200 point season type stuff.

There are exceptions of course, Bobby Hull had his greatest season at 30, Jean Beliveau at 27, but not as many as you might think. Not sure if Patrick Kane is an all-time great but his great season was at 27 as well. Just saying that the career defining season comes early for the most of the greats.

I would be surprised if McDavid isn't better at 25 than he is now. assuming scoring doesn't go down or he doesn't get injured. You're right a lot of the very best of all time peaked early, but they all remained in their prime for quite a while except Ovechkin who took a nosedive for a few seasons at 25. Lemieux, Jagr, Malkin, Crosby all had their best seasons relative to the league from 23-28. Gretzky was basically at his peak until 27.

 

[AvsFan29]

Yea leo Messi wants a word with you

I said sport, not exercising

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

Creativity is spot on, that is his greatest asset.
Most people say speed is Connor's primary attribute, which of course makes sense being the fastest player in the league with and without the puck, a rarity that only a handful of players in NHL history possessed. That's what everyone sees on the daily highlight reels, McDavid picking up the puck in the d-zone, flying through the neutral zone, out-skating premier defenders and finishing the job.

But Oilers fan's know, watching him game by game for over 3 years now, that it's his intelligence and intuition that makes him who he is. His ability to create something out of nothing, on a consistent basis, in both the defensive and offensive zones, is what makes him a generational talent. He's so smart in high-pressure situations, rarely flustered and his anticipation on what the opposing player(s) will do and then making a play based on that, is pure genius.

A clear example of his hockey IQ in a game this season, was the entire play on the overtime goal vs Boston on October 18th:

3v3. The Oilers defenseman takes the puck behind the Bruin's net. Patrice Bergeron sees Klefbom, Draisaitl, Marchard and McAvoy battling behind their net and starts skating towards the Oiler's zone in anticipation that they'll win the battle and make a stretch pass for a breakaway. He was right, Marchard won the battle, both Klefbom and Drai are well into Boston's zone and Marchard makes that stretch pass to a speeding Bergeron for the easy breakaway. Oops, intercepted by McDavid, makes a move around Marchard and sets up the game winner on a 2 on 1.
Rewind, McDavid also saw the battle behind the net and also anticipated the stretch pass, so he follows Bergeron, after he turned around and started skating towards the Oilers zone. But if you watch the overhead view, McDavid stays a couple feet to the right of Bergeron, staying out of his area of vision, making it seem he's alone and that Marchard has a clear lane. He baited it, as soon as Marchard released the pass, McDavid made a sharp left turn, with 3 quick lunges towards the passing lane and stole the puck.

To me, that is just him on another level. As the saying goes, he's playing Chess out there while everyone else is playing checkers

 

[Agent Zub]

I said sport, not exercising

Americans are hella dumb

 

[Frosty415]

Creativity is spot on, that is his greatest asset.
Most people say speed is Connor's primary attribute, which of course makes sense being the fastest player in the league with and without the puck, a rarity that only a handful of players in NHL history possessed. That's what everyone sees on the daily highlight reels, McDavid picking up the puck in the d-zone, flying through the neutral zone, out-skating premier defenders and finishing the job.

But Oilers fan's know, watching him game by game for over 3 years now, that it's his intelligence and intuition that makes him who he is. His ability to create something out of nothing, on a consistent basis, in both the defensive and offensive zones, is what makes him a generational talent. He's so smart in high-pressure situations, rarely flustered and his anticipation on what the opposing player(s) will do and then making a play based on that, is pure genius.

A clear example of his hockey IQ in a game this season, was the entire play on the overtime goal vs Boston on October 18th:

3v3. The Oilers defenseman takes the puck behind the Bruin's net. Patrice Bergeron sees Klefbom, Draisaitl, Marchard and McAvoy battling behind their net and starts skating towards the Oiler's zone in anticipation that they'll win the battle and make a stretch pass for a breakaway. He was right, Marchard won the battle, both Klefbom and Drai are well into Boston's zone and Marchard makes that stretch pass to a speeding Bergeron for the easy breakaway. Oops, intercepted by McDavid, makes a move around Marchard and sets up the game winner on a 2 on 1.
Rewind, McDavid also saw the battle behind the net and also anticipated the stretch pass, so he follows Bergeron, after he turned around and started skating towards the Oilers zone. But if you watch the overhead view, McDavid stays a couple feet to the right of Bergeron, staying out of his area of vision, making it seem he's alone and that Marchard has a clear lane. He baited it, as soon as Marchard released the pass, McDavid made a sharp left turn, with 3 quick lunges towards the passing lane and stole the puck.

To me, that is just him on another level. As the saying goes, he's playing Chess out there while everyone else is playing checkers

 

[AvsFan29]

Americans are hella dumb

I agree

 

[FinnishSniper]

I agree

First it was Laine, now McDavid. Which other teams player are you gonna get obsessed of next? Mackinnon is incredible and the second best player in the league, but he is definitely behind McDavid.

 

[AvsFan29]

First it was Laine, now McDavid. Which other teams player are you gonna get obsessed of next? Mackinnon is incredible and the second best player in the league, but he is definitely behind McDavid.

I didn't say MacKinnon was better, I was just wondering why someone would say he's the best player to ever play the game.

Btw, the 2 assists Laine has put up over the last 5 games is impressive. He's 56th in points now. Definitely a top 10 player.

 

[AvsFan29]

First it was Laine, now McDavid. Which other teams player are you gonna get obsessed of next? Mackinnon is incredible and the second best player in the league, but he is definitely behind McDavid.

I didn't say MacKinnon was better, I was just wondering why someone would say he's the best player to ever play the game.

Btw, the 2 assists Laine has put up over the last 5 games is impressive. He's 56th in points now. Definitely a top 10 player.

 

[shazariahl]

He's just so damn hard to defend, and the biggest reason is that his brain and puck-handling can keep pace with his feet. He's not just incredibly fast, he plays and thinks the game incredibly fast. He's simply a matchup nightmare.

You know how Pavel Bure almost seemed to be faster with the puck than without? McDavid has that same ability but with better hockey IQ and vision.

Well said. Bure was clearly the better goal scorer, but McDavid is the better player. Both have (had) that ability to do everything at full speed with the puck that makes them so hard to defend. There's been plenty of speedsters in the league's history that are amazing in a race for the puck, but guys like McDavid who can cut, turn, deke, shoot, pass, etc all at full speed are incredibly rare.

 

[ovythegiraffe]

Yea leo Messi wants a word with you

Meant to say C. Ronaldo, right?

 

[Burned]

I said sport, not exercising

Officially the stupidest thing said on here (ok, on this thread)...