Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid might already be one of the top three players in the NHL, and he hasn’t even played a full season’s worth of games yet.
He leads the league with 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 23 games entering Tuesday’s action, when he’ll take on his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Leafs head coach Mike Babcock, who also coaches the Canadian men’s Olympic hockey team, is a huge fan of McDavid, and he even compared some of his talent to a player many people consider the best ever.
“(Ryan) Nugent-Hopkins is a real good player. (Leon) Draisaitl is a real good player, but McDavid looks like he’s different than everybody else,” Babcock told the media Tuesday morning, per Sportsnet.
“The last time I saw a guy go faster than the whole league was Bobby Orr, and I was nine years old. This guy’s faster than the whole league. It’s incredible to watch. It’s got to be an exciting time in (Edmonton).”
McDavid’s speed really is amazing. Not only that, he does everything at a high speed, whether it’s shooting, passing, figuring out which play to make next (with or without the puck), etc. Doing all that at such a fast rate and still making it look effortless is the mark of a true superstar.
There aren’t many strategies that produce effective results in slowing down McDavid, but the Arizona Coyotes did find one last week.
Hey, you have to do what you can, right?
Thumbnail photo via Perry Nelson/USA TODAY Sports Images
