DALLAS – You’d never know it from the way they treat each other on the ice, with the whitewashing, the cross-checking and the endless strings of profanities, but there is a tremendous amount of respect among most NHL players. . Everyone who makes it to the NHL, and anyone who makes it this far in the Stanley Cup playoffs, knows the work that goes into that. Sacrifice and talent too. Ask any player about any other player and, with few exceptions (often based on the Florida Panthers), you will hear some variation of “he’s a good player.”
But it’s different with Connor McDavid.
Other players not only respect McDavid, they are in awe of him: the things he can do, the things he has done, the things he is going to do. In a sport reveling in a new golden age of superstars, McDavid is a singular entity, a player capable of doing things no one else in the league can do, things no one else in the league has done.
“McDavid might be the greatest player of all time,” said Stars forward Matt Duchene, a sacrilege secretly shared by almost everyone in the league.
And yet, he would probably tell you that he has achieved nothing. Because his Edmonton Oilers haven’t won anything. That’s what makes Game 6 of the Western Conference finals Sunday night in Edmonton a game of almost unfathomable importance for McDavid.
The Oilers found the 60-minute game they’ve been looking for all series on Friday night in Dallas, dominating defensively and on the power play and cruising to a 3-1 victory in a Game 5 that legally must be described as ” fundamental”. Edmonton now leads the series 3-2 and can eliminate the Stars on Sunday night before what is sure to be a delirious crowd at Rogers Place.
It will be the biggest game of McDavid’s career to date. And it will be the most pressure I have ever felt.
Because nine seasons into his NHL career, in his prime, this is the closest McDavid has come to the Stanley Cup Final, to a championship. And if he stays in Edmonton long-term, he may never have a better opportunity to engrave his name on the silver of the Stanley Cup. Certainly not at his best.
Nine seasons into his NHL career, this is the closest Connor McDavid has come to the Stanley Cup Final. (Chris Jones/USA Today)
That’s not to say the Oilers are going to fall off a cliff next season. Far from there. But it’s entirely conceivable that Leon Draisaitl, McDavid’s longtime running mate and another of the world’s best hockey players, won’t wear blue and orange next spring. He’s entering the final year of his contract, and if he doesn’t sign an extension this summer, if he wants to be another team’s alpha, the Oilers will have to make a nearly impossible decision: whether to take one more run. in this with their dynamic duo and risk losing Draisaitl for nothing in free agency, or trading Draisaitl at the deadline, their 10-team no-movement clause practically guarantees they don’t get anything close to fair value in return.
Beyond that, if the Oilers extend Draisaitl, it will justifiably cost a fortune, and there will be at least $25 million invested in two players. If they lose Draisaitl, who is currently paid comically less than $8.5 million, they will never be able to replace him with a combined $8.5 million worth of players.
Meanwhile, Edmonton has the 25th-ranked prospect pool, according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. And they have a pick in the first four rounds of this year’s Draft, a second rounder. Aside from 22-year-old defenseman Philip Broberg, who scored Edmonton’s third goal in Game 5, help is not on the way.
So this is McDavid’s biggest, best, and perhaps only chance to bring a Stanley Cup to Edmonton while being this version of himself, the most unstoppable player in the game. He’s only 27 years old, but as the Oilers have learned in the seemingly endless rise to this point (which included an educational sweep at the hands of the superior Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 conference finals), it’s incredibly difficult to build a true contender.
The 2024 Oilers are deeper than anyone gave them credit for, the way they’ve often stifled Dallas’ waves of high-end forwards in this series is testament to that. But they only have seven forwards signed for next season for a whopping $39.75 million, and Darnell Nurse is taking on $9.25 million of the salary cap for six more seasons. And with Draisaitl potentially on his way out and McDavid on the verge of signing a new two-year contract ($15 million or more a year?), it will be as difficult as ever to ensure that this team doesn’t once again have too much weight in the top. too thin to return to this point.
Last year, Jack Eichel became the first player to win the Stanley Cup with a $10 million cap hit. Previous megastars won their Cups with their entry-level deals or bridge deals, or with seven-figure salary cap hits. Nathan MacKinnon had a paltry $6.3 million cap hit when he won the Cup in 2022. Toronto has yet to figure out how to truly compete with an overloaded roster with eight-figure deals at the top. Chicago’s Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews won three Cups before signing their equivalent $10.5 million deals; they never won another playoff series together.
There are rumors among those around the Oilers every day that McDavid might have peaked, and it’s plausible, if somewhat ridiculous. A forward’s true prime is his mid-20s in the modern NHL, and McDavid is 27. His goal total has dropped from 64 to 32 this season and he only has four goals in the playoffs. (There’s also a lot of speculation that, like so many this time of year, he’s dealing with some sort of nagging injury that may be costing him half a step.)
However, he is still easily the best player in the world. He earned his 25th assist of the playoffs on the first of two power-play goals by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on Friday night (the first two points per game for either team in this series), leaving him just six behind. tying Wayne Gretzky’s franchise assists record. in a single postseason. If the Oilers reach the finals, McDavid is a sure bet to break that record. And he’s also all that 100-assist regular season. This remains a unique talent in the history of the game, still in his overall prime, even if he never tops his absurd 2022-23 campaign. Heck, Dallas rookie Logan Stankoven said he still has to remember to stop being starstruck when he lines up for a faceoff and sees McDavid on the other side. That’s the effect that McDavid has, that’s the aura that surrounds him.
He has been that player his entire career. But this is the first time the Stanley Cup Final is truly within reach. That’s a pressure that mere mortals find difficult to quantify. And even the hockey gods can feel the weight of it. How will McDavid handle it? Probably the way he handled everything else: brilliantly.
And yet, he has never been one win away from the Stanley Cup Final. This will be a lot. Even for him.
“The stakes are getting higher and higher,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “There is a lot of pressure on the players at the moment. … I don’t think it’s time to put more pressure on the players to step up and play better because they know, they want to perform.”
McDavid always has. He probably he always will. The weight of his team will fall on his shoulders Sunday in Edmonton; he always is. The weight of his legacy will also be there. That is new.
This is McDavid’s moment. He earned it, he deserves it and the league will be better for it.
But deep down, you should know that you might not get another one anytime soon.
(Top photo by Connor McDavid: Glenn James/NHLI via /Keynote USA/Getty Images)
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