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2020 NHL Entry Draft

Based on stats alone, John Tavares was better than those two at the same age.

The thing that made McDavid stick out when he was a teenager was his speed. While that seems to be pretty obvious, here's the thing: You'll often get prospects that are speedsters, but they either a) don't have the brain to go with their feet. It's almost like their body is going to fast for them to process the game or b) don't have the natural skill / body type to be much more than that.

McDavid was growing into a player with size, had the supreme skill of a can't miss prospect and he's probably the best skating hockey player I've ever seen? In a game that is growing faster and faster every day, he still looks way faster than everyone else. That's a very, very rare combination of traits that we'll be lucky to see one more time in our lifetimes.
 
I was looking for a video during his last playoff run in Erie which just made me laugh out loud at how good he was. This is a decent alternative. Watch this video and watch how he goes around the d-man. If the d-man was just a step behind or he lost an edge/balance for just a moment, he was doomed. Hell, if the gap is small and the d-man isn't moving his feet at a frantic pace, he's in trouble. McDavid was doing this basically on day 1 in the OHL as a 15 year old.



Mix that in with all of the other elements in his game? Man.
 
GGpX said:
Based on stats alone, John Tavares was better than those two at the same age.

The thing that made McDavid stick out when he was a teenager was his speed. While that seems to be pretty obvious, here's the thing: You'll often get prospects that are speedsters, but they either a) don't have the brain to go with their feet. It's almost like their body is going to fast for them to process the game or b) don't have the natural skill / body type to be much more than that.

McDavid was growing into a player with size, had the supreme skill of a can't miss prospect and he's probably the best skating hockey player I've ever seen? In a game that is growing faster and faster every day, he still looks way faster than everyone else. That's a very, very rare combination of traits that we'll be lucky to see one more time in our lifetimes.
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Oh there's no doubt that McDavid is the best combination of speed and skill that we've ever seen. But of course there more to the game than that.

For instance, I don't believe McDavid is as good as Crosby. Even though his speed/skill combination is higher.
 
I always assumed you were more clever than Count.

I'm not too proud to admit that I was wrong. Way wrong.
 
Habspatrol said:
Oh there's no doubt that McDavid is the best combination of speed and skill that we've ever seen. But of course there more to the game than that.

For instance, I don't believe McDavid is as good as Crosby. Even though his speed/skill combination is higher.
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I don't disgaree. I do think Crosby's a better player, although he wasn't drafted by one of the worst run organizations in North American sports like McDavid was.
 
Habspatrol said:
Oh there's no doubt that McDavid is the best combination of speed and skill that we've ever seen. But of course there more to the game than that.

For instance, I don't believe McDavid is as good as Crosby. Even though his speed/skill combination is higher.
Click to expand...

Pavel Bure is probably the closest to McDavid in regard to that combo but McDavid is top.
 
GGpX said:
Based on stats alone, John Tavares was better than those two at the same age.

The thing that made McDavid stick out when he was a teenager was his speed. While that seems to be pretty obvious, here's the thing: You'll often get prospects that are speedsters, but they either a) don't have the brain to go with their feet. It's almost like their body is going to fast for them to process the game or b) don't have the natural skill / body type to be much more than that.

McDavid was growing into a player with size, had the supreme skill of a can't miss prospect and he's probably the best skating hockey player I've ever seen? In a game that is growing faster and faster every day, he still looks way faster than everyone else. That's a very, very rare combination of traits that we'll be lucky to see one more time in our lifetimes.
Click to expand...

Excellent post

The best one year performance in the OHL that I have ever seen was Patrick Kane

CMD was incredible to watch but Kane was insane in his lone year in the OHL.
 
GrandWazoo said:
Pavel Bure is probably the closest to McDavid in regard to that combo but McDavid is top.
Click to expand...

No love for Federov....he was fast, but his style of skating made it seem he was just striding slowly around the ice. He had the hands, speed, IQ....

He's was kinda like Malkin, stuck being an alpha on his team.

Loved Federov.....and then loved his friendly feud with Bure over Anna Kornikova (sp?)
 
Rolex said:
No love for Federov....he was fast, but his style of skating made it seem he was just striding slowly around the ice. He had the hands, speed, IQ....

He's was kinda like Malkin, stuck being an alpha on his team.

Loved Federov.....and then loved his friendly feud with Bure over Anna Kornikova (sp?)
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Good old days watching Fedorov , Mogilny , and Bure
 
Rolex said:
No love for Federov....he was fast, but his style of skating made it seem he was just striding slowly around the ice. He had the hands, speed, IQ....

He's was kinda like Malkin, stuck being an alpha on his team.

Loved Federov.....and then loved his friendly feud with Bure over Anna Kornikova (sp?)
Click to expand...

I thought of Fedorov as well, but Bure had a bit more of that explosive steps to blow past defensemen and score goals. Fedorov was the most complete payer.
 
GrandWazoo said:
I thought of Fedorov as well, but Bure had a bit more of that explosive steps to blow past defensemen and score goals. Fedorov was the most complete payer.
Click to expand...

With Federov, the first thing i think about is supreme hockey IQ.....

He also was the best PP QB

But Bure was the bigger superstar, he had the WOW-factor, the highlight goals...too bad his knees didn't hold up
 
worm said:
Who do we draft in 2021?
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I'm curious to see Kent Johnson go to Michigan and see how he does there. He'll miss this year's draft by a month, but he'd be a probable top-10 pick if he was eligible. We can also try to get the third Hughes brother, Luke. Although I don't think he's on the same level as the other two.
 
Rolex said:
With Federov, the first thing i think about is supreme hockey IQ.....

He also was the best PP QB

But Bure was the bigger superstar, he had the WOW-factor, the highlight goals...too bad his knees didn't hold up
Click to expand...

Bure was born 15 years too early. Could you imagine him playing in the modern NHL? Good lord.
 
GEEMAN said:
Excellent post

The best one year performance in the OHL that I have ever seen was Patrick Kane

CMD was incredible to watch but Kane was insane in his lone year in the OHL.
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In hindsight, Patrick Kane was a trailblazer. In the middle of a revolution in how hockey was played (and officiated, granted), he's the prototype of a small but super-skilled player that we see in the modern NHL & might have seen his success hindered in the previous dead puck generation.
 
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