Quote:
Originally Posted by VilleN
After watching McDavid for the past few years, I really don't see "The best player in the world". To me, he's like a more skilled Pavel Bure. He has incredible talent, his ability to handle the puck at speed is amazing, he has terrific playmaking ability as well. But beyond that? At this point, he doesn't seem like much of a captain. He seems shy, and isn't playing in the trenches at both ends of the ice the way Crosby did/does. He doesn't seem angry about losing, just dejected.
When Crosby came into the league you could see that he had "it". There was greatness in the way he carried himself, he seemed like a leader pretty early on. He had a snarl to the way he played, he played hard at both ends of the ice... Maybe it is just my Calgary bias, but I'm starting to think McDavid isn't quite the generational player everyone is claiming he is. He has the talent, but to me, it doesn't seem like he has the character.
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I totally agree and have thought this since Day 1. I see more, "The best skilled player in the world."
Generational player to me means turning a guy like Conor Sheary into a 50 point guy. Or turning Chris "decent player" Kunitz into Chris "Olympic gold-medal winning" Kunitz. Mario Lemieux did this with a laundry list of players.
It also means not having a career-high 46.1 faceoff %. As a first-line center.
I see a guy, that when pushed hard doesn't push back (see exhibits: Hathaway and Backlund). He puts up points when it no longer matters and doesn't consistently find ways to use his (crappy) linemates.
There was probably a point when he was tracking to be a legit generational player, but poor development and a losing environment will likely place him in first-ballot HOF territory. Obviously a remarkable achievement should he get there, but still... it's kind of a shame.