Here is the July 8 edition of Rosen's weekly mailbag, which will run periodically throughout the summer. If you have a question, tweet it to @drosennhl and use #OvertheBoards.
Let's get to it:
Will Connor McDavid have an immediate impact on the Oilers, and what part of his game needs to improve the most? -- @lateinthegoldie
McDavid should have an immediate impact on the Oilers. He should be their No. 1 center, putting Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in a more friendly spot at No. 2, which is not a knock on him but instead more praise of McDavid to consider him to be good enough already to be a No. 1 center in the NHL. The Oilers could have McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl as their top three centers. That's their present and future right there. There will be growing pains for McDavid, but his speed and skill will more than make up for them.
As for the part of his game that needs to improve the most, I consulted with my good friend Craig Button on this. Button has scouted McDavid over and over and over. He knows his game probably better than McDavid knows his own game. Button says that McDavid's shot needs to improve to the point where he can threaten NHL defensemen with it. The defensemen have to respect his shot, and when they do it'll open more options for McDavid to exploit the 'D'. The same thing happened to Sidney Crosby. He worked on his shot, and it became a weapon for him to score 50 goals once he got it to the point where the defensemen had to respect it as a threat. Scoring 50 again might be a stretch for Crosby, but 40 isn't if he plays with better wingers who can do some of the heavy lifting for him.