Each season the NHLPA polls its players on a number of topics around the league. Mostly focused on on-ice excellence, the poll gives us some insight into the thoughts of players around the league. This season 639 players were polled, and the results offered some Edmonton Oilers content. Let’s take a look at what the results were and what they say about the Oilers.
If you need to win one game, which forward would you want on your team?
Connor McDavid: 48.71%
Sidney Crosby: 11.58%
Nathan MacKinnon: 6.59%
Naturally, a lot of this poll features Connor McDavid. Although this season’s Hart and Art Ross Trophies are tightly contested races, this is likely only the case because McDavid has had something of a down year, by his standards, mostly due to injury. Clearly the players recognize this, with McDavid winning this vote by a landslide.
Nathan MacKinnon, one of the foremost Hart and Art Ross contenders, and often thought of among the best players after McDavid, is far behind, receiving roughly one-seventh of the votes that McDavid did.
Who is the best stick handler?
Connor McDavid: 35.53%
Patrick Kane: 20.89%
Jack Hughes: 8.06%
In a much tighter vote, McDavid is seen as the league’s best stick handler. Patrick Kane has been a mainstay of this category, bridging the gap between Pavel Datsyuk and McDavid as the league’s best stick handler, and still commands a lot of recognition. Kane might even be just as adept as McDavid in this skill, but McDavid’s overwhelming skating speed adds a dimension of dynamic flare that his peers respect.
Who is the most complete player?
Sidney Crosby: 38.37%
Aleksander Barkov: 14.6%
Anze Kopitar: 8.15%
Connor McDavid: 7.81%
While McDavid did not win this category, this might be the most surprising and encouraging result for him in this survey. McDavid has continually improved his overall game, along with his offensive production, throughout his career. His commitment to improving defensively has materialised in his advanced stats as well as in the proverbial “eye-test”, something his peers acknowledge by voting him the 4th most complete player in the league.
Finishing behind some of the great defensive centres in Aleksander Barkov and Anze Kopitar is nothing to sneeze at, but the comparison to Sidney Crosby is clearly the most interesting angle here. Thanks to the generational talent both McDavid and Crosby displayed as teenagers, their parallels have long been evident. Through his career Crosby has rounded out his game, and though it is unlikely that Crosby will win a Selke Trophy, his determination to bring his team to victory led to an evolution to his game. We are seeing the early steps of this same transformation from McDavid, as are the players around the league.
Which player do you least enjoy playing against but would like to have on your team?
Brad Marchand: 29.19%
Connor McDavid: 17.48%
Matthew Tkachuk: 7.57%
Here is a category where McDavid defies convention despite not finishing first. This distinction is often implicitly given to skilled disturbers, players with an edge to their game, like Brad Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk, or even Tom Wilson, who finished lower in the vote. Essentially, McDavid is so skilled that many players voted against these expectations, fearing McDavid’s talent as much as the snarl and physicality of others receiving votes.
Who is the best playmaker?
Nikita Kucherov: 28.47%
Connor McDavid: 20.91%
Leon Draisaitl: 8.96%
Artemi Panarin: 7.56%
This might be the category where it is a surprise that McDavid did not win, though a second place finish is nothing to scoff at. Like McDavid, Nikita Kucherov has a good chance to hit 100 assists this season, a surreal mark that puts these two players in a class of their own.
Meanwhile, this is the first appearance in this survey for Leon Draisaitl. While Draisaitl is a power forward, and one of the premier goal scorers in the league, his finishing third in the category displays how multi-faceted his game is, and why he is deserving of recognition as one of the all time greats.
Which is the most difficult player to face in their own end?
Victor Hedman: 20.32%
Connor McDavid: 9.48%
Jaccob Slavin: 7.9%
While McDavid being recognized as one of the most complete players is indicative of his improving defence, this category states so even more explicitly, and perhaps even more impressively. While McDavid finished a distant second in this category, he finished first among forwards, which is even more surprising.
Victor Hedman is a Hall of Fame level defenceman who plays a complete game, while Jacob Slavin is often referenced as the league’s foremost shutdown defender. McDavid finishing so high in this category, as well as more than 1.5% above Slavin is a clear indication that McDavid is worthy of Selke consideration. While McDavid won’t win the Selke this season, each year the chance of him doing so at some point in his career becomes more likely.
Which NHL arena has the best ice?
Bell Centre (MTL): 34.48%
Rogers Place (EDM): 14.52%
Canada Life Centre (WPG): 11.07%
While the Oilers received a lot of recognition for their players on-ice excellence in this survey, their ice received some love itself. Since the 1980s, when ice guru Dan Craig was in charge of the surface in Edmonton, the Oilers have long been considered to have one of the best ice quality in the league. While Dan Craig and his similarly skilled son, Mike Craig, do not work for the Oilers, instead working for the league itself, their legacy continues in Edmonton. The Bell Centre in Montreal wins this category for the sixth season in a row, but the quality at Rogers Place remains widely recognized.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
