McDavid looks to score more
TORONTO — Here’s good news for Edmonton Oilers fans who probably could use some good news after their NHL team dropped well below expectations last season by failing to make the playoffs.
That news extends from captain Connor McDavid: He wants to score more goals.
“I just want to continue on the growth we’re on,” McDavid said Monday at the Bio Steel hockey camp in Toronto, where a combination of stars from the pros and juniors are getting in a final tune up before team camps open in earnest next month.
“There’s always ways to improve your game. I’ve always said I want to score more, find ways to score more. It’s great to go out and make plays, but there’s a knack to putting the puck in the net. … I was able to find a bit of that at the end of last year. So, I want to try and find that again.”
The Oilers obviously need a lot more to go right than McDavid — the best player in the game right now — upping his already stellar goal game.
Despite the fact McDavid increased his offence on a team that disappointed overall, the Oilers still must shore up defensively in several areas, and get big bounceback seasons from several players, if they are to answer for last season’s non-playoff disappointments.
But they have McDavid, who is worth the price of a ticket on his own, and who has shown an intangible ability to get better throughout his entire hockey career, amateur and pro.
“Everyone’s motivated, everyone’s worked hard over the summer, it’s time to show it,” McDavid said about his Oilers.
McDavid proved himself while his team slipped badly through the standings last season.
He won the NHL scoring title with a career-high 41 goals and 108 points.
Incredibly, 35 of his goals a year ago came at even strength, all while the Oilers dropped from 47 wins in their playoff year in 201617 to 36 wins in the non-playoff ’17-18 season.
All of that was inspiring stuff, and in the eyes of critics and fans, it was also the impetus management needed to improve their roster and surround the world’s best player with a more effective team, especially in its own end.
General Manager Peter Chiarelli did sign a four new players — Kyle Brodziak, Tobias Reider, Kevin Gravel, and Mikko Koskinen — over the off season. But that result failed to excite fans and critics, who saw the moves more as replacements for players lost at the trade deadline last February, then actual improvements to the roster.