Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnyB
It should be noted with the Caps that while they aren't cup winners yet they did have dramatic improvement following getting their superstar. It took the Caps four seasons to reach 108 points after they got Ovechkin.
Really, it's hard to pick out counter examples to the Oilers' situation because these so-called generational talents just don't come around that often. Ovechkin is a generational scoring talent, Crosby has been the best player in the world for ages and Toews appears to be the best leader the league has seen in a long time. Tavares, though great, doesn't seem so unique.
If McDavid lives up to the hype, Crosby is probably the only real comparison since the 2004 lockout. Combine that with the promise of improved organisational leadership and it's not unreasonable to think the Oilers will be strong cup contenders in short order.
Of course nothing is for sure. It's all speculation. My point is not that the Oilers will certainly win even though I think that MacLean's prediction is reasonable. I think looking at the turnarounds from being brutal to being champs of recent cup winners and the impact of generational talent supports that his prediction is a reasonable bit of speculation.
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John Tavares came into the league with pretty significant hype as well. The rule that allowed McDavid to enter the OHL early is colloquially known as the Tavares rule, after all. While the Caps, and the Isles, for that matter, did make significant improvement as regular season teams, neither one of them are built to be great playoff teams. The main difference between them and Pitt/Chi/LA?
1. Building a team by finding NHLers throughout the draft, not just with high 1st round picks.
2. Balanced teams. (Talent in all 3 position groups F, D, G.)
When it comes to these departments, the Oilers are not on the same planet as any of the teams you mentioned. Heck, they're significantly worse than any of my counter examples.