Mcdavid-mackinnon West final would make must-see TV
It’s entirely possible that Nathan Mackinnon and Connor Mcdavid — who met Saturday night in Edmonton — will face off against each other in the Western Conference final of the National Hockey League.
And wouldn’t that be fun? The two most explosive players in hockey, Canada’s two best players up front, the two currently battling for a scoring title in the NHL, potentially going head-to-head to see which team will play for the Stanley Cup.
Of course, so much has to happen between now and then for any of this to make sense. But if it can happen, it’s the marquee matchup the NHL would be hoping for.
Mackinnon leads the NHL in scoring with 115 points, three ahead of Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov and nine ahead of the annual scoring champion, Mcdavid. Since Jan. 1, Mcdavid barely leads Mackinnon in points, 58-57. Last month, Mcdavid out-pointed Mackinnon. This month, the opposite has occurred.
Mackinnon is the morning-line favourite to win the scoring title and the Hart Trophy as most valuable player. But Mcdavid is right alongside there with him in the race for the Hart — along with Kucherov, David Pastrnak of Boston and Toronto’s Auston Matthews.
After Saturday night, Mackinnon’s Colorado Avalanche has 14 games left to play. Mcdavid has 17 remaining with the Edmonton Oilers. What won’t be known for a while is whether either player will be rested down the stretch as both teams have basically assured their playoff status.
“Only one thing matters (to Mcdavid),” said an NHL GM. Not the scoring title. Not the Hart.
This is Mcdavid’s ninth NHL season. In Mackinnon’s ninth year, the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup.
THIS AND THAT
The Maple Leafs haven’t always known who their goalie will be, who will be playing on defence in what pairing, whether the roster is deep enough, why changes aren’t being made, and yet, somehow, the team is playing at a 106-point pace. That’s fifth best in the Eastern Conference, ninth best in the NHL.
You can argue that the Leafs are punching above their weight class this season … Leafs goalies, no matter who is in net, would rank behind Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin, Sergei Bobrovsky, the Boston pairing and maybe Andrei Vasilevskiy. But again, they’re hanging in there … To be honest, I don’t know what Vasilevskiy is postback surgery. He doesn’t look the same to me … Cities that deserve NHL teams before Atlanta should ever be considered again: Houston, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Quebec City, Toronto (second team), Milwaukee, and Boise, Idaho. And no, I don’t think the NHL should ever consider Boise, not that Boise is even asking … It was with a certain pride that general manager Brad Treliving rewarded Bobby Mcmann with a two-year contract extension with the Leafs. Treliving, who played for five different ECHL teams and one IHL team in a fiveyear minor league career as a player, can relate to the journey Mcmann has had in finding his way to the NHL. The first Leafs scout to show any real interest in Mcmann as a player was Jim Paliafito, who now works for the Islanders.