Maple Leafs marvel at McDavid scoring pace ahead of visit from Oilers
Praise 'pretty insane' production of Edmonton center, who leads NHL with 54 goals and 124 points
By
Dave McCarthy
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
"No, I don't think [I've seen anything like it]," Tavares said Friday. "He's on pace for numbers that we haven't seen since [Wayne] Gretzky and [Mario] Lemieux, so pretty good two guys to be comparing with if your numbers are matching up with [them]. It's pretty remarkable. He makes everybody just look so slow. It's just incredible what he can do, not just how fast he is but what he does at that speed and how he thinks the game.
"Everyone sees the confidence and how aggressive he is looking to attack the net, shooting the puck and being deceptive with it the way he has developed his released."
McDavid leads the NHL with 54 goals in 66 games, nine more than Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak, who is second. The center also leads the League with 124 points (70 assists), 27 more than teammate Leon Draisaitl in second.
McDavid is on pace for 154 points and can become the first player with more than 150 in a season since Mario Lemieux had 161 (69 goals, 92 assists) for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96.
With McDavid putting up rare numbers, almost as rare have been appearances in Toronto of late, at least in front of a full crowd, for the native of Richmond Hill, Ontario, about a 45-minute drive north of Scotiabank Arena.
The last time McDavid played here in front of a full crowd was Monday, Jan. 6, 2020, when he beat Morgan Rielly on a memorable fake and 1-on-1 move to score in a 6-4 Oilers win.
Finally, 1,161 days later, McDavid will be back in front of a full crowd in Toronto when the Oilers face the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SNO, SNP).
McDavid and the Oilers have not played in front of a full crowd here on a Saturday night in his eight NHL seasons. His only other game on a Saturday night in Toronto came on March 27, 2021, while the city was under restrictions prohibiting large gatherings because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's always special a little bit," said McDavid, the Edmonton captain, who has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in eight games at Toronto in his eight NHL seasons. "Especially it's Saturday night, they always have us playing on a Monday or a Wednesday night or something like that, but it's nice it's on a Saturday."
McDavid said he did not have a lot going on while in town Friday other than dinner with his mother. Once Saturday arrives, his only focus will be helping the Oilers to a third straight win.
"I want an Edmonton Oilers win, that's all I want," McDavid said. "If [a lot of offense is] how it works out personally, great. If not and I have to play a lesser role, that's great too. The biggest thing is coming in here and winning a big game against a good team in a tough building. That's our focus."
Edmonton (36-22-8) is tied with the Seattle Kraken for third place in the Pacific Division and the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Toronto (39-17-8) is second in the Atlantic Division, 17 points behind Boston.
McDavid was held without a point in the Oilers' come-from-behind 3-2 win at the Bruins on Thursday but had two goals and an assist in a 5-2 victory against the Maple Leafs at home March 1.
"What he's doing is pretty insane and we get to kind of witness it and watch it," Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner said. "When you're out there, you want to make sure you are not giving him that time and space, try to limit his chances as much as you can. It's just about trying to stay above him, maintain your speed with him and try to keep him to the outside."
Toronto center Auston Matthews, who last season won the Hart Trophy as NHL most valuable player and the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the leading goal-scorer (60), has also been impressed.
"Obviously he is in a class of his own and what he's been doing is pretty remarkable," Matthews said. "Anytime he's out there you have to be aware because he is extremely dangerous.
"You'd like to obviously have a response and sharpen up some of our details that we didn't seem to have a week ago."
Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said McDavid's impact this season goes beyond statistics.
"[McDavid] has taken it to a different level this year," Woodcroft said. "I think everybody goes to the goal-scoring, but that speaks for itself [with] the pace he's on right now. But I would go to the leadership side of things, him stepping that part of his game up. It's not just about setting an example for Connor McDavid, it's about pushing teammates to do things the right way.
"That's something as a coach I am privy to, I get to see. I just see someone who has taken a real step on that side of things. On the ice what he is doing is spectacular. I don't think it should be lost on anybody what we are seeing in his regular-season performance."
Woodcroft, in his second season as an NHL coach, will coach his first game in his hometown Saturday. It will also have added significance for Oilers forward Zach Hyman and goalie Jack Campbell.
Hyman played his first six NHL seasons with the Maple Leafs before signing a seven-year contract with the Oilers on July 28, 2021. He returned to Toronto last season when Edmonton lost 4-2 on Jan. 5, 2022, but the game was played in front of an extremely limited crowd due to COVID-19 regulations. McDavid missed that game while in NHL COVID-19 protocol.
"It's great to be back and see so many friends and family," said Hyman, who has an NHL career-high 72 points (29 goals, 43 assists) in 65 games this season. "And it'll be great to play in a full building. Last season when we played here there were no fans because of COVID restrictions. Don't you remember me waving up to the press box at all of you? I have so many great memories of my time there. Now I'm in Edmonton and we're trying to make new ones."
Campbell, who is 17-9-4 with a 3.57 goals-against average and an .882 save percentage in 32 games (30 starts) this season, signed a five-year, $25 million contract ($5 million average annual value) with Edmonton on July 13, 2022, after playing three seasons with Toronto.
"It's been a struggle at times, an up-and-down year," Campbell said. "You just have to work to get through it. The guys have been very supportive. Going back to Toronto, I can't say enough about how great the fans and the city were to me. It was special and I'll always cherish my time there."
