GIVE HIM THE ‘C’ ALREADY
McDavid clearly the leader
Connor McDavid having the C on his Team North America jersey at the World Cup wasn’t so much an audition for the same role here, as an announcement that he’s arrived as an NHL leader, even at 19.
He’s a captain in waiting here and the wait’s not going to be much longer. It’s just a matter of when the Edmonton Oilers choose to have the news conference to tell everybody he’s the 15th guy to wear the ‘C’ in their 36-year history — and the youngest in franchise and NHL history, to boot.
McDavid’s locker-room stall is in the middle of the team’s new dressing room at Rogers Place, which is where the captain should be as he looks out at his crew. Fittingly, prize free-agent signee Milan Lucic, who plays and talks as good game as you’ll find in the NHL, and also has something McDavid doesn’t (a Stanley Cup ring from Boston), is the kid’s next-door neighbour in the room.
He can look after McDavid on the ice as his linemate, as he was Tuesday in practice in McDavid’s first appearance since the World Cup, and give him counsel behind closed doors.
“He’s a very mature young man. It’s surprising he’s only 19 years old, the way he carries himself. That’s what’s going to make him a great leader and, at some point, the next captain of the Oilers," said Lucic.
McDavid is presidential already, just 45 games into his NHL career. Lucic knows a captain when he sees one, from his eight years in Boston with Zdeno Chara, and his year in L.A. with Anze Kopitar.
“Big Z (Zdeno Chara) was definitely the leader when I was in Boston. He had a lot of guys around him to help carry out his message, but he started that culture. Z set the pace for practice, for how hard we were going to be to play against as a team, Z set the tone," said Lucic.
“Connor has the ability to push that pace, set that tone, with just his speed alone. Big Z, (Jonathan) Toews, (Sidney) Crosby, (Dustin, former captain) Brown and Kopitar in L.A, — the guys who have won Cups lately — it’s having the captain set that standard, and everyone else follows.”
The ‘C’ seemed to fit just perfectly on McDavid’s jersey at the World Cup.
“It was great, I definitely felt very humbled and proud to wear the ‘C’ on a team like that. I was very comfortable with it,” said McDavid.
It seemed a no-brainer giving the captaincy to him for Todd McLellan’s Young Guns and it’ll be the same here. He leads by example as Wayne Gretzky did; he’s not a holler guy, but he was talkative at the worlds.
“I don’t think Connor got out of character at all there. He carried himself the same way he always has. There’s a respect level for Connor in the hockey world already,” said McLellan.
Same goes for Lucic, in McDavid’s eyes, as he watched him play Monday against Calgary, from the press box.
“I was so happy to watch him play. It’s going to work well, I think. He opens up so much room, he wins battles, he keeps a ton of pucks alive, he’s almost a perfect winger for myself,” said McDavid.
McDavid loved the race-car pace of the World Cup in Toronto, playing with Auston Matthews on one side, with Nathan MacKinnon roaring around, with his Oiler teammate Ryan Nugent-Hopkins anchoring a second line for the Young Guns’ team. But he knew it was a good time but only a short time.
He’ll be very happy when the regular season starts and he has the ‘C’ over the Oil drop, too. He’s only had one NHL season but he seems older than his 19 years. The leaders as teenagers are always like that.