Subj : Connor McDavid Will Always Make His Linemates Better
To : All
From : The Hockey Writers - Main
Date : Tue Sep 15 2020 04:40 am
Since 2015 when they unexpectedly won the Connor McDavid lottery, the Edmonton
Oilers have only gotten two brief tastes of the playoffs. A blown series lead
versus the Anaheim Ducks ended things in 2016-17, while bad bounces and lack of
scoring depth cut their run short in this year';s wacky preliminary round.
Watching the final four teams playing true playoff hockey, it seems obvious
that the Oilers aren';t there yet. The puzzle that management needs to solve is
how to get there.Holland Had His Work Cut Out for Him
The previous missteps are well known - poorly thought-out trades by the former
management regime, buyouts, no-trade clauses, and top-of-range contract deals
pushing them up against the cap, coupled with the seeming inability to develop
any sort of homegrown talent past the first round of the draft. General manager
Ken Holland inherited the greatest player in the world, as well as a 50-goal
scorer, and yet there seems to be no quick route to icing a true
championship-calibre team; however, the answer to the team';s difficulties may
be staring them right in the face.Bob Nicholson CEO and Vice-Chair of Oilers
Entertainment Group Hockey Operations Staff, new GM Ken Holland and Owner Daryl
Katz pose for a photo after announcing the hiring of Ken Holland (THE CANADIAN
PRESS/Jason Franson)
McDavid, rightly so, is the highest paid player in the league. In a salary cap
world, that could be seen as a disadvantage, even if the average rate for a
first-line centre is climbing toward his number. But the truth is that McDavid
is worth the money. There are two reasons for this fact. First, and most
obvious, is that he is the best player in the game. Second, and this is obvious
as well, though maybe not to everyone, is that he can produce league-leading
point totals regardless of his linemates.Leon Draisaitl Will Be okay
Leon Draisaitl is elite. From his second season in the NHL onward, he has
produced with virtually anyone. He had immediate chemistry with Taylor Hall, he
naturally scored on McDavid';s line, and this season the line of Kailer
Yamamoto, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl was consistently amongst the best
in the league between Jan. 2020 and the interruption of the regular season.
Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl take part in training camp.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson)
The simple truth here is that Draisaitl, much like Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh,
doesn';t need to play with McDavid to help the Oilers win and arguably, by
playing them together you are hurting your team';s chances at victory.McDavid
Makes Any Winger Better
Let';s take a look at some other players that have spent significant time on
McDavid';s wing. Patrick Maroon came over from the Ducks in 2015-16 in exchange
for Martin Gernat and a fourth-round pick. At the time the trade seemed to be
a depth move for both clubs, but Maroon clicked with McDavid and ended up
taking the first-line spot originally earmarked for Milan Lucic the next
season. Potting 27 goals and 42 points that year, plus another 3 goals and 8
points in the playoffs, it seemed the two had unbelievable chemistry. Maroon
was the Chris Kunitz to McDavid';s Sidney Crosby.
After the playoff run, hopes were high in the City of Champions. Maroon seemed
destined to get 30 goals or more on the top line as the Oilers easily captured
the division title and then made another deep playoff run. Of course that
isn';t what happened. Maroon moved up and down the lineup, and other players
regularly took the prime spot with the world';s greatest player. The names of
those players aren';t synonymous with offence (Ty Rattie, Mark Letestu, Jesse
Puljujarvi) and yet they all produced. Even Lucic';s numbers got a slight boost
when anchoring McDavid.Patrick Maroon and Michal Neuvirth, Oilers vs Flyers,
3/3/16 (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
Maroon was deemed expendable at the deadline and went on to win a Cup in a
depth role in St. Louis. Rattie';s worst nightmare came in the form of the
hiring of Ken Hitchcock, who had long ago decided he wasn';t an NHLer. Letestu
was traded back to the Columbus Blue Jackets and has not approached his 2016-17
numbers since. It seems clear that while McDavid helped these players score,
none of them were truly top-line NHL players based on skill alone and that is a
fact the Oilers would do well to recognize. McDavid doesn';t need elite
linemates such as Leon Draisaitl.Related: A "Prickly", Slighted, and Motivated
McDavid is a Dangerous ThingLooking at more recent history, the Oilers played
Zack Kassian regularly with McDavid over the past couple seasons and he
benefitted greatly, setting career highs in goals and points in 2019-20. While
Kassian has speed, and adds some sandpaper to the lineup, he likely won';t
repeat the statistics that earned him his four-year extension without
significant top-line minutes. If the Oilers are able to get out from under that
contract they should do so. McDavid should play with teammates who would
otherwise be classified as middle-six or bottom-six players so long as they
have speed and decent hands. More importantly they should be on entry-level or
bridge contracts, giving Ken Holland flexibility to spend elsewhere on the
roster. From the current roster, pending restricted free agent Andreas
Athanasiou looks to fit the bill, so long as he re-signs for a reasonable
number. The second line should be made up of the three next best players on the
team, which for now is the Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, and Yamamoto grouping.
The Short Playoff Run Was Evidence of What Not To Do
The Oilers lost their preliminary series with Chicago because they fixed
something that wasn';t broken when they didn';t use the lineup that had worked
so well before the break. The single game the Oilers won was basically a case
of McDavid single-handedly outscoring the opponent. Only in the dying minutes
of the final game of the series was Draisaitl reunited with his regular season
linemates, but by that point it was too late, and the team was out of the
playoffs barely a week after they';d begun.Chicago Blackhawks celebrate (AP
Photo/David Zalubowski)
With the world';s best player on your team, and a deadly second line who get to
go up against the second best checkers on the opponent';s team night after
night, the bottom two lines should hardly matter. Holland can gain assets by
playing a particular player on McDavid';s wing and then shipping them off at
the trade deadline or during the offseason. He can be confident that the next
player his coach assigns to the vacant spot will also produce, probably at a
career-high pace. Meanwhile, the assets he brings in can address the real needs
of a contending team, defensive depth, goaltending and grit.
The post Connor McDavid Will Always Make His Linemates Better appeared first on
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