There is no question in NHL circles that Connor McDavid is the best hockey player in the world.
It didn't take long for him to prove it or for that to become the consensus opinion around the league after the Edmonton Oilers picked him first overall in the 2015 draft, when it was already known that he was a generational prospect who was destined to change Edmonton's long poor fortunes.
But while McDavid's individual profile soared-- he's won three league MVP awards and led the NHL in points five times-- the team's success hasn't followed, even as the 2014 first rounder Leon Draisaitl also developed into a top five player in the league.
Whether it was due to a lack of forward depth behind them, bad defense, or shotty goaltending, the Oilers had never won a conference final game in the McDavid era, having been there only once in 2022 and promptly getting swept by a far superior Colorado team.
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That all changed this year, one in which the Oilers got off to a nightmare start and looked to be in danger of missing the playoffs altogether, an unmitigated disaster that would have resulted in a totally cleaned house and fueled rumors of McDavid's eventual departure in free agency for greener pastures.
Instead, Edmonton's supporting cast finally stepped up, and the Oilers went on an absolute tear that got them into the playoffs with ease. Once there, they handled Los Angeles and Vancouver in the first two rounds before getting a really tough draw in Dallas in the conference finals.
But the Oilers weren't overmatched like they were in 2022. Instead, they used their superpowers to overcome a Dallas team that was not just solid but incredibly strong all over the roster.
The Oilers punctuated the series on home ice in Game 6 on Sunday night in atypical fashion. For a team that dominated the puck and chances all season long, they mustered only 10 shots on goal in an entire game. An astonishingly low number, but one that ultimately meant nothing.
It didn't matter because in the first period, McDavid scored a goal that only he, in the entire history of the sport, could be reasonably expected to score.
In even less space than a phone booth, a toe drag into a roofed backhand beat Oettinger to put Edmonton ahead 1-0 on a power play.
We’re going to have this view of Connor McDavid’s goal on repeat all night…🤯 pic.twitter.com/Kjbl0iwqOu
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) June 3, 2024
He followed that up with an other-worldly effort in pressuring the puck, rescuing it, retrieving it in the neutral zone, and feeding a perfectly precise pass to Zach Hyman for power play goal number two.
Despite registering just three shots in the first period, Edmonton had a 2-0 lead, and it felt like Dallas didn't have a realistic path back even if they continued to play as well as they were.
McDavid simply was not going to allow the Oilers to lose, and you could tell based on a second-period shift of his that nearly led to goal number three.
Oilers vs. Panthers SCF Matchup
(Photo : (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images))
The lesson to be taken from this series is more one for analysts and prognosticators than it is for front offices, but it's that an individual can be good enough to overcome a huge difference in depth around them, so long as that player is Connor McDavid playing at the peak of his powers and he has a few other guys playing to their highest potential around him to make it work.
Between Draisaitl, the suddenly prolific goalscorer that Hyman has become, and a true blossoming number one defenseman in Evan Bouchard, the Oilers have those surrounding pieces to pull it off, even if the bottom of their roster is not all that close to that of Dallas.
Or, say, that of Florida, which is the next and final challenge standing between the Oilers and the Stanley Cup. The Panthers are every bit as good as Dallas, and even a bit more physical and defensively stout.
The Panthers' top defensive pairing of Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad has flustered and shut down Nikita Kucherov, David Pastrnak, and Artemi Panarin in successive series.
Can they do the same to McDavid? Don't bet on it. If the Oilers fall short, it will be because of something else. McDavid is on a mission to secure the Cup and ring he and his franchise so desperately need, and it doesn't seem like anything can stop him.
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