If it's possible for a teenage phenom to exceed the hype, then that's what McDavid did in his rookie NHL season with the Edmonton Oilers.

That is saying a great deal, because the build-up for the young center, who turned 19 during the season, was considerable. It's all the more impressive because his was a shortened rookie season; he missed 37 games because of a fractured clavicle, but had 48 points in 45 games.

The smaller sample size knocked him down to third in the voting for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, but in his partial season, he still tantalized, which was no surprise, since the 6-foot-1, 190-pound center left major junior hockey as the most decorated player in Ontario Hockey League history.

McDavid won OHL and Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year honors in 2014-15, his final season with Erie, when he had 44 goals, 120 points and an OHL-best rating of plus-60. He also won a second straight Bobby Smith Trophy as the OHL's top scholastic player. As an OHL rookie in 2013-14, he won the William Hanley Trophy as the league's most sportsmanlike player.

McDavid dazzled scouts with extraordinary acceleration and high-end speed, uncanny on-ice vision and a seemingly endless array of moves. It was a given that Edmonton, which won the draft lottery, would select him at No. 1 in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Even in an abbreviated rookie season, McDavid provided plenty of highlights. At the top of the list would be his five-point game on Feb. 11, 2016 in his first time facing his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. He had two goals and assisted on each of Jordan Eberle's three goals in the Oilers' 5-2 victory.