“For me it’s those characteristics are what separate really, really good hockey players from great hockey players,” Hendricks said. He also does his own training, sometimes passing up a round of golf with buddies to work on his craft. Much of that is thanks to the work McDavid does in the offseason with retired forward Gary Roberts, who has become a high performance trainer, and at the annual BioSteel camp. McDavid won just 42% of draws his first three seasons and is now over a 54% success rate, which ranks 21st in the league. McDavid has also spent the past several years shoring up his biggest weakness.Īfter getting picked first in the 2015 draft, he struggled on faceoffs. “For me, we’re asking some of our higher-minute players to do a lot of things and assume a little bit more responsibility.” He has put a lot of emphasis in some of the areas that our staff when we’ve come together (recently) has put a lot of emphasis on, which is his work back to our own end,” said coach Jay Woodcroft, who was promoted from the minors when Dave Tippett was fired in February.
What’s harder to see is how McDavid has grown as an all-around player.
“Me at my best would be skating, having the puck, playing aggressive,” McDavid said. They’ve won 16 of 24 games to clinch a playoff spot. Since the Oilers fell out of playoff position March 4, McDavid has averaged more than 21 minutes of ice time and put up 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points in 24 games. McDavid was at his best when Edmonton needed him. “When I’m at my best, I contribute a lot.” “Obviously I want to play well and contribute to the team as much as I can,” McDavid said. Hendricks noticed right after McDavid was picked first in the NHL draft the so-called “Next One” wanted to put the Oilers on his shoulders and “be the focal point and the reason that they came out of those dark days.” That has not changed. “But then, saying that, he just keeps coming out and performing the way he does every game. “There’s probably a level of frustration, which is natural,” said retired NHL forward Matt Hendricks, who played with McDavid for two seasons from 2015-17. Pearson Award as most outstanding player and five times has surpassed the 100-point mark.įor all those accolades, he has never reached the Stanley Cup Final and the Oilers have only won one playoff series in his tenure, back in 2017. He is a two-time Hart Trophy winner as league MVP, a three-time pick by his peers for the Ted Lindsay/Lester B. The playoffs are now his proving ground because McDavid has done just about everything during the regular season. “He knows it’s going to take a lot of work to be the best, and he’s been working his entire life to be the best.” “He wants to be the best,” said Dedonato, a hockey player at Brock University who lives less than 10 minutes from McDavid during the offseason. Fresh off 2nd back surgery in 13 months, Mark Stone captains Vegas to Stanley Cup
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