McDavid over Crosby.

He will, once McDavid get's the hardware. The cups and conn smythes give Sid the edge.

Disagree. Crosby has three cups.

Cool. Kirk Maltby has four.

In NHL History only 6 players have won 2 or more Conn Smythes: Roy (5), Gretzky (2), Orr (2), Parent (2), Lemieux (2), Crosby (2)

I like and agree with how you ranked these...seems based on how much of a franchise player they are or were...amazing the drop off from the top and bottom of the list!!!

I guess the point isn't getting across...

McDavid being stuck with a **** GM who can't build a team around him doesn't make Crosby the better player.

His 2016 smythe was a total gift lets be real

Ranked by ...byest!

McDavid has proven he can be the best player in the league during the regular season. There is no argument there.

My argument is McDavid will be considered a better player than Crosby when he wins a cup and a conn smythe.

The ultimate goal of any pick is to win a cup. The highest award in the game of Hockey is the Stanley Cup, which Sidney Crosby has won 3 times, 2 of which he was considered the best player during those 32 wins, he did that on back-to-back seasons, something never done in the history of the game.

Point totals, longevity of career, hardware, and cups should all be important when discussing a player being hall-of-fame worthy. Every name other than McDavid on that top-5 has won a cup. I just want to see a guy in his prime win a cup before I say he's the best draft pick in 25 years.

I mean he has no excuse now. Drai, RNH, Ekholm, Bouchard, Nurse, Hyman, Kane, Perry... not a stellar goalie, but hey there's only like 6 true #1 goalies these days.

They have a team that can get it done, and he should be able to be the difference maker.

Fair, but Sid deserves his praise he's accomplished everything one can hope for as a 1st overall.

Yeah I mean I don't think anyone is saying anything bad about Crosby he's for sure #2 here but McDavid is one of the best playoff performers of all time literally Gretzky and Lemieux stats in the modern era its insane not his fault he's had so many horrible GMs and teams. He has nearly x2 the regular season awards at 27 lead the league in playoff points in 2022 without playing in the final and last year had 20 points in the first 2 rounds Eichel lead the playoffs with 26 just insane to say McDavid needs to do more

I think "best" is a subjective term here, best should be who positions you to win the most games. McDavid is not a one man machine, and from hockey pundits to vegas, no one thinks of Edmonton as an empty threat team.

If you think McDavid could retire today and still be considered the best player drafted over the last 25 years, I'd agree on skill, not just yet on compete level.

I believe compete level is proven by playoff performance, I don't think it's crazy to say if McDavid doesn't get a cup appearance for his career he is not considered the best player drafted over the last 25 years.

I also think it's myopic to say the only reason the Oilers haven't won a cup is because of management. The Oilers have one of the strongest top-6 in the entire league, they have solid defense, and really just weak at goaltending, but several recent cup winners have overcome those odds. Vegas, hockey pundits, and most fans wouldn't be surprised to see the OIlers make the cup final, so I don't think we can just say "bad GM. on any other team McDavid would win a cup"

Thank you very much!! Fun to see someone thinks the same way I do

Playoff scoring since 2022: https://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20212022&seasonTo=20232024&gameType=3&sort=points,goals,assists&page=0&pageSize=50

McDavid lacks "compete level"? He's not a playoff performer?

Sure, bud.

I mean there is no point in arguing, you believe McDavid has nothing left to prove he is the bonafide best player in the league. I have said several times, I just want to see the guy win a cup before I say that. I don't know how much clearer I need to be. Literally the sentence after playoff performance I say just that. We are at an impasse, I think Crosby has proven what I believe McDavid will do, which is why I give him the edge.

Ask a Penguins fan if they would rather have had Crosby in 2005 and his career or have McDavid from 2015 on, and I think you'll hear Crosby.

I have said several times, I would like to see McDavid win a cup before I say he's the best player drafted over the last 25 years. If that is a point of contention we are at an impasse.

I feel this debate the same as prime years of Carey Price.
Price did put amazing numbers year after year, but he was behind such a poor team that the only thing he could do was not giving much goals but losing anyways. He never played with a forward scoring 80pts in his entire career lol. And still, most people would tell he was not in the discussion for best goalie cuz he did not win cup, only two deep playoff runs, etc.

Back to McDavid/Crosby discussion. It's very very hard to rank them, and however it's done there will always be people mad about it. They both have amazing careers. McDavid has higher pure offense skills as Crosby, there is no debate about it. What makes me rank Crosby higher is his entire career team accomplishments (I don't feel champions pens had a way much better team as actual oilers roster). Also, it's been 19 streak season Crosby is a PPG, 15 playoff years on 19, 17 seasons in positive +/-. These numbers may not be impressive when you look at them year by year (less impressive than McDavid's) but it's really amazing consistency. If Connor keeps putting these numbers after 19 years, he'll be above Crosby.

That's fair, I can see why you would rank them that way. I simply took exception to the comments that McDavid lacked compete level and that he wasn't a playoff performer. Both are radically false.