Edmonton media turns on Connor McDavid calls him out for poor leadership
Coming off a tough 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken, the Edmonton Oilers seem to be reeling. With only four wins in their last ten games, the Oilers are currently holding onto the last Wild card spot for the playoffs.
This mid-season slump has seen rare displays of frustration from both McDavid and Draisaitl, particularly in their loss to the Anaheim Ducks prior to the Christmas break. Now, one legacy member of the Edmonton media seems to be calling out McDavid for poor leadership through the team's slump.
Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal is clearly using Mark Messier as the standard for which McDavid should lead in his tweet above. To Matheson, the lack of anger or urgency from McDavid at least is not helping the developing «malaise» in the Oilers' locker room.
However, the Oilers face a myriad of real issues before the imagined criticism of McDavid's leadership can be considered. Their big off-season free agent goalie is now the back up, the defence is still porous, and the offensive depth is non-existent. Without McDavid and Draisaitl, there's no doubt the Oilers would be one of the worst teams in the league.
It's not a surprise Matheson would imagine this criticism of the team's best player, given his history of asking pissy questions, but it's a foolish viewpoint given that the team would be in the basement without their contributions. That said, the Oilers do need to be better, and find any way to do so - wasting more time of McDavid and Draisaitl's prime will only make winning more difficult in later years for Edmonton.
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Will the Edmonton Oilers make the playoffs this season? | ||
| Yes, they will | 88 | 48.9 % |
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