After the Edmonton Oilers won the 2015 NHL draft lottery, even the most optimistic Oilers fans would have said that expecting No. 1 overall pick Connor McDavid to become the best scorer in the NHL by age 20 was setting the bar too high.
And yet, McDavid has exploded in his second season, leading the NHL with 88 points and carrying the Oilers into playoff position for the first time since 2005-06, when they lost in the Stanley Cup finals to the Carolina Hurricanes.
No doubt he is having a fantastic season, and Edmonton fans are getting everything they could have dreamed of. But since before McDavid was even a thought for the Oilers, the former Erie Otter was touted as the next generational player -- the next Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux or Sidney Crosby.
Is he already showing signs of being that good? Does his trajectory compare to the all-time greats? How does it match up against the best players of the most recent era?
