This will be a stretch but hear me out. Let’s live in a strange world where the Edmonton Oilers are run poorly. They’re willing to trade the top pick, and they end up trading it to the Dallas Stars. The Stars move up and decide they like Connor McDavid. If they end up doing that, what kind of player are the Stars getting?
Simply put, they’re getting a generational player to put with Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Jason Spezza. McDavid should make the team out of training camp and give the Stars arguably the best young core of forwards in the NHL. Long term drafting McDavid is very likely to give the Stars a salary cap headache, but who cares? It’s Connor McDavid.
Hockey’s Future brings us a pretty clear synopsis of what McDavid should become:
McDavid is considered to be one of the best players available for the NHL Draft since Sidney Crosby was chosen first overall back in 2005. His skating, shot and hockey IQ are all at an advanced level, and he has the ability to make other players around him better. Although more noted for his offensive skills, McDavid can be used in any situation. He is certainly the most NHL-ready prospect from the 2015 class.
Sidney Crosby isn’t too shabby.
McDavid has put up some other worldly numbers in his junior career to generate this level of praise. In 2014 McDavid notched 99 points in 56 games. That was pretty good, but 2015 was crazier. McDavid tallied 120 points in only 47 games, an almost unfathomable total. We’re talking almost three points per game.
But maybe that’s misleading. How does he look on the ice? Here is a series of highlights from the World Junior Championships:
This is what our phenom looked like two years ago courtesy of the Erie Otters:
Ok, so maybe those numbers aren’t a fluke
Is this going to happen? Of course not. It isn’t a stretch to see the Oilers run poorly, but doing anything other than drafting McDavid would be the stupidest thing the Oilers have ever done. Check that, the second stupidest.
The Oilers are going to get a franchise player out of this draft after years of picking high. Recent drafts have netted them Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov, Darnell Nurse, and Leon Draisaitl. These are not bad players, but these players are not McDavid. There is no excuse for the Oilers to not be back in the playoffs almost immediately.
Now under the leadership of Peter Chiarelli and Todd McLellan the Oilers will be getting a third gift. The gift of Connor. We all hoped that somehow the Stars would be lucky enough to win the lottery. They weren’t. As many times as the Oilers and Stars have met in meaningful situations the Oilers were bound to win another one eventually. This one hurts though.