Quote:
Originally Posted by Robbob
With all the extra ice time he gets, he probably plays an extra 15 games worth a year. Over the course of his career it probably adds up to a couple extra seasons. That has to start adding up.
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I've said this before, but he's getting close to that tipping point that all elite NHL talents get to in this game. The raw talent that takes you from top scorer to generational scorer starts to fade ~30 and with the extra mileage of ice time he feels, it could happen sooner than that. There's maybe a handful of exceptions that were able to keep up a comparable scoring pace beyond that age, and these were players that had games not fully built on speed.
Do I think McDavid is going to go from a 130pt player to 60pt player? No. But he could very well drop to 90-100pt player in the next year or two and start to miss 10-15 games a season as the body breaks down. Is that going to be enough to carry the Oilers with their bungled cap structure? No.
Really, the Oilers are in must win territory before father time rears his ugly face, and when you're just no good to begin with, it doesn't bode well for the future.