Penguins’ Sidney Crosby a bad sign for Oilers’ Connor McDavid originally appeared on The Sporting News. Click here to add Sports News as your go-to source.
Connor McDavid still hasn’t won a Stanley Cup. The Edmonton Oilers’ season ended Thursday night in the first round, their last two seasons away, when they lost to the Florida Panthers in the championship series.
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Sidney Crosby has won the Stanley Cup three times during his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. But that’s not to say McDavid is underperforming. This is an ominous sign.
Crosby won his last Stanley Cup at age 29.
McDavid is now 29 years old. He turns 30 in January.
Many of the greatest players in history failed to win a Stanley Cup after turning 30 years old. Alex Ovechkin, who won at age 32, is the main exception.
Josh Yohe of The Athletic shared this list that highlights this point:
Here’s a who’s who of the best hockey players of all time. Other than Ovechkin, none of them are winning at McDavid’s age for next season’s playoffs.
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That’s not to say he can’t be an exception. Clearly, McDavid is still an incredible talent.
But the Oilers haven’t maximized his best window yet, and it’s unclear where they’ll go from here.
They have to address their goaltending issues, improve their defense and maybe get some more firepower on the forward depth chart. Where do they get the money to do all this?
The reality is that McDavid now faces an uphill climb to the Stanley Cup. History is not on his side.
