Wayne Gretzky anoints Oilers star Connor McDavid the next great one: 'He's the best player in hockey'
The Edmonton Oilers captain is a four-time NHL All-Star.
He's also a prolific scorer, winning the Art Ross Trophy five times as the player leading the NHL in regular-season points.
McDavid also shares similarities with hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. McDavid and Gretzky are the only two players to be named the NHL MVP by unanimous vote. While Gretzky is often referred to as "The Great One," he believes McDavid is the greatest active NHL player.
"No question, he's the best player in hockey," Gretzky said during a guest appearance on ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show."
"Unselfish young man. He loves playing in Edmonton, loves being the captain of the Oilers. Desperately wants a Stanley Cup, that's what he wants, cares about the most. Great for our game, great for the city of Edmonton. What a year. Scored the winning goal in the Four Nations Cup in overtime."
For the second consecutive year, the Oilers and Florida Panthers meet in the Stanley Cup Final. McDavid and the Oilers took Game 1 of the series Wednesday night.
The 4-3 victory was a come-from-behind win for Edmonton, which was down 3-1 at one point in the game. But the Oilers scored three unanswered goals for a statement victory on their home ice.
After tying the game in the third period at three, an overtime period was needed to determine the winner of Game 1.
When the Oilers held a man advantage, McDavid capitalized by making a nifty saucer pass to teammate Leon Draisaitl, who flew in front of the net to get the puck past Panthers' goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
Gretzky, who works as an NHL analyst for TNT broadcasts, predicted how McDavid's assist would set up teammate Mattias Ekholm to make what ended up being the game-tying goal in the third period of Wednesday's matchup with the Panthers.
"They're smothering them. They're playing really smart. They're playing the Rick Tocchet defense. They've got that forward in the middle," Gretzky said during the second intermission. "They've given them the outside. Connor's going to have to take it around the net or stop up and hit the late guy, because they're cutting everything off going to the net."
Gretzky then admitted his prediction was "luck," before praising McDavid.
"He's the best player in the world," Gretzky said. "He knows what he's doing. I just got lucky with that statement."
Game 2 is scheduled for Friday at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The series shifts to South Florida for Games 3 and 4.
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