2) Connor McDavid
Harsh or not, Connor McDavid must shoulder more than his fair share of the criticism. The best player in the game is just not getting it done thus far in 2023-24.
There is some suggestion McDavid is still not fully recovered from the recent injury, which caused him to miss a couple of games. However, the reality is he wasn’t playing like his usual self even prior to said injury.
We appreciate that last season raised expectations through the roof for the 2015 first overall draft pick. Regardless, just two goals in eight games is simply not good enough for a player who led the NHL with 64 in 2022-23.
The contest versus the Predators saw McDavid’s goalless streak increase to five games. He also won just four of 19 faceoffs, which is terrible even for a player with a career 47.3 faceoff win percentage.
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In addition, the five-time Art Ross Trophy winner was at fault on two of the Predators’ goals. This included the second goal when, as pointed out by Devon Hladunewich, he could have read the play better and been on the point man faster.
Following the game, McDavid was asked what was most frustrating about the latest loss. Speaking to the media, he said:
"“It’s just death by a thousand cuts, that’s what it feels like. It’s just like one mistake and it costs us, and another mistake, and it kind of just snowballs. It’s tough to chase games.”"
As a final point, which is not on McDavid specifically, this is the worst start the Oilers have had to a season since he arrived in Edmonton. In this respect, recent history does not look particularly kindly on this team when they get off to slow starts.