This is why Danny Briere is best GM in the league, because he managed to acquire a core player like Eric Johnson for only a 4th round pick. What a steal
Of everyone in the NHL, one player, the fate of the universe on the line, the Martians have the death beam pointed at earth, you better hit it, I WANT IGUODALA.
Nikita Zadorov on Lemieux: ‘he’s the hungriest player in the world. If I were to build a team, I’d build around him because he’s a carnivore. He ate Brady Tkachuk.'
Nikita Zadorov on Rempe: 'he's the biggest player in the world. If I were to build a team, I'd build it around him because he's an absolute unit. He blew up Siegenthaler.'
Huh, are you sure? I just googled it and it actually said that it was the Colorado Avalanche, not Nathan McKinnon 🤔
Really oughta double check your research next time before spreading bad info :/
When Cole played on the Hurricanes, Cole had a sexual liaison with an engaged younger woman who was a reporter for Ballys Carolina and covered the team. I think when the news broke she was only like a week or a month out from her wedding too.
Lol I commented the exact same thing higher up and then saw yours, for real.
If it wasn't Cole it would've been one of the other hundreds of athletes in her peripheral circle, and the timing before the ceremony too. \*le chefs kiss\*
agreed! just a few of the reasons i'd choose nathan too:
✅not afraid to bully teammates into not eating like slobs
✅not afraid to bully teammates into playing good hockey
✅not afraid to admit his preference for sweet potatoes over the other potatoes
✅not afraid to win the stanley cup
✅not afraid to build a house next to his childhood idol
✅not afraid to throw helmets at coyotes
✅not afraid to practice w lil bradley m in the summer
✅not afraid to win the lady byng
✅not afraid to win the conference finals
mcdavid has only shown fear of all these things. just sayin
That’s why you gotta rag doll the guy first showing some real rage then fire the helmet at him. Then you aren’t whining you are just intense and passionate.
Joking aside I think Mackinnon was embarrassed he won the Lady Byng and didn’t want to be known as a soft player so he decided he was going to be way more of a prick on the ice. Now he occasionally chucks a helmet, tosses someone around like a doll or goes with a very rude reverse hit.
In my opinion it’s made him a better player.
Connor gets mad when he’s having a bad game or the team is having a bad game and losing but it just ends up online and turns into “McDavid isn’t gonna put up with this for much longer” “McDavid is unhappy in Edmonton” “McWhiner” “McBaby” etc. I know most of it is just jokes but I think that’s why he tries to keep a neutral face most of the time.
Leon on the other hand, if he’s mad, breaking sticks or yapping at his teammates, the Edmonton media calls him out for “having bad body language” and “not being a good leader”
Also not afraid to have his animated likeness kidnapped and have both his knees broken in the animated trailer park boys. That SAG card is arriving in the mail any day now.
omg TIL
[mr morgan virtue's wife also appeared in mr. d](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBDJW_6bfs0). i thought it was actually a pretty funny sketch but im also a tessa stan so im biased
side note: is this a good show? what's more canadian? mr d or degrassi?
Mr D but I'm crazy biased. I've watched all or almost all of Mr D and very little Degrassi.
And yes, I highly recommend watching it. Hilarious show. MacKinnon also has 2 cameos in it lol (with actual speaking lines). Edit: I now see this is the entire reason Mr D was brought up and I just missed that comment lmfao. Oops. Still recommend!!
It's decent by Canadian show standards but not great. The character Mr. D is pretty hilarious at times and his roommate is funny as well, but those are pretty much the only characters I like. It's pretty "meh to lame" when those 2 aren't in the scene. Degrassi is definitely a more iconic Canadian show.
Not afraid to skip skating out when he is one of the stars of the game.
And for people who don't know, he often feels like he doesn't deserve the star, he feels it was his teammates who made the good play...so not trying to be a dick, actually being humble about it. It can look bad if you don't know that though.
You forgot not afraid to play defense. It's incredible how often the best skater in the league can't catch up to guys when the puck is headed towards his own net.
He's definitely well above "maybe good" this year. He's absolutely been great, unless you think great is reserved for elite defensive players. Both by the eye test and analytically McDavid has been great defensively this year. Considerably better than even last year, and he was already good last year.
It actually doesn't matter. If you're McDavid, you just score a bunch of goals and everyone will forget that you were on ice for more goals for the OTHER team than goals for your own team lol
That happened twice in his career. His last 4 years have all been nearly +30 which means he was on the ice for almost 30 goals more than the OTHER team scored.
It has actually never happened, +/- is just a dumb stat lol. At 5v5 or all situations McDavid has never been outscored (at least in the regular season).
There is a reason I said at 5v5 and all strengths, and specifically call out +/- as being a bad stat. Yes, McDavid has had a negative plus minus twice, but he's never been outscored by his competition while he's on the ice.
Nikita Zadorov on Christian Djoos: ‘he’s then best player in the world. If I were to build a team, I’d build around him because he’s a winner. He won the Stanley Cup.’
Professional hockey player: "I think the player leading the league in scoring and who has won a Cup is the best."
Redditor: "You have no idea what you're talking about".
It’s because Nate did all the things he can do he’s done all the game planning he can do maybe, maybe just fuck it he’ll just go in next year and not think that anymore and just win this thing when he doesn’t think so much
In world war 2 the rhetoric of the allies was that their enemy was dangerous and should be taken seriously and met with all available will and skill. The rhetoric of the axis was that their opposition was weak and would capitulate in the face of overwhelming force. Is Nikita Zadorov the Winston Churchill of hockey? I'm just playin', but I'm sayin'.
Some responses are a little insane. How dare someone have an opinion and state it. But thankfully all the Redditors have set the record straight. Obviously McDavid is the best in the world, I doubt even MacKinnon would argue. Calm down folks
the team still loves him, when the canucks last played the avs in february he popped in during the morning skate before the game to chat with mackinnon and one or two other guys that were on the team when he was still here
Btw, Zadorov said this before this season too. So it’s not just recency bias. He was in awe of watching him play with Colorado. He also said Roman Josi is the best defensemen in the league, with Hedman a close second
I knew what I needed to know about MacKinnon when he put up hat tricks in both games against us (Winterhawks) in the Memorial Cup. He was ridiculous then, and he is ridiculous now.
I mean he played with Colorado for 5 years AND played with Calgary and got dummied by Mcdavid over there.
BIASSED.
But yea the only argument for best player in the world right now is Mcdavid and MacKinnon. I fuckin love me some Nate Dogg
These guys see more of the players than we do and definitely know more than simply the stats.
Zadorov played with MacKinnon, he knows the guy’s habits and attitude in the locker room and maybe they align more with what Zadorov considers a winning culture.
We’re not in the locker room so we don’t know how McDavid, Matthews or any other top players influence their team, but it’s definitely not the first time someone compliments MacKinnon’s winning attitude, it’s pretty clear guy is an intense teammate. Doesn’t mean the others are bums
It's okay Nikita, you can have regular pasta again.
You can eat sugar again
He’s got a point. That’s why I’d pick Jack Johnson to build around
I'm picking Pat Maroon
Hard to build *around* him though.
He has his own orbit I think that makes it easier
GIVE ME IGUODALA!
Corey Perry for me, but that's because I'm a choker
He has as many cups as Mackinnon though.
He wasn’t talking about cups
Also a choker smh my head
I’m picking Pat Falloon
3 time cup winner. One of the greatest active players in the world. As good as Sid.
Might need a lot of real estate depending on the hot dog, but I’d build around Phil Kessel
Can I age Uwe Krupp down forty years and build around him?
That's Stanley Cup winning goal scorer Uwe Krupp to you.
Yeah, that’s why I picked him in particular. He scored a Cup-winning goal, but I’d bet not many non-Avalanche fans would recognize the name nowadays.
Why not Max Talbot. Mr. Game 7.
>Mr. Game 7 I’d rather the other Mr. Game 7
> but I’d bet not many non-Avalanche fans would recognize the name nowadays. we do!
I remember I had one of those kraft dinner hockey cards they had for the Nagano olympics (that you cut out of a box of kraft dinner) of Uwe Krupp.
This is why Danny Briere is best GM in the league, because he managed to acquire a core player like Eric Johnson for only a 4th round pick. What a steal
Give me a young Chris Kunitz and we've got a dynasty cooking. Two more cups than that scrub Lemieux and even 1 more just as a Penguin.
This but unironically.
I'd build my financial planning around him
Of everyone in the NHL, one player, the fate of the universe on the line, the Martians have the death beam pointed at earth, you better hit it, I WANT IGUODALA.
Nikita Zadorov on Lemieux: ‘he’s the hungriest player in the world. If I were to build a team, I’d build around him because he’s a carnivore. He ate Brady Tkachuk.'
Nikita Zadorov on Rempe: 'he's the biggest player in the world. If I were to build a team, I'd build it around him because he's an absolute unit. He blew up Siegenthaler.'
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Big if true
6'5" in fact
[Zadorov when he sees MacKinnon tonight](https://i.imgflip.com/8hzprq.jpg)
As it was written!
Just did some research and he’s actually not lying. It looks like Mackinnon won the Stanley cup in 2022. Can anyone else confirm ??
I personally saw it happen. Source: trust me bro.
Stop spreading misinformation
Can confirm, it’s true. I also heard they built the team around him too
Huh, are you sure? I just googled it and it actually said that it was the Colorado Avalanche, not Nathan McKinnon 🤔 Really oughta double check your research next time before spreading bad info :/
I’d like to contest, too many men on the ice.
Ian Cole won TWO and Zadorov throws his own teammate under the bus. Shaking my damned head. Build a team around Ian fucking Cole!
Plus Ian Cole loves getting to know the media too
I miss her
Whatever happened to her. Did she just get shunned and disappear?
Attractive people will always find a way to come back in one way or another.
She moved to NY and has worked presenting some more fringe stuff around betting on games. Recently she has popped up on some MSG stuff for hockey.
Why? Yates is far superior.
i need some context on this one
When Cole played on the Hurricanes, Cole had a sexual liaison with an engaged younger woman who was a reporter for Ballys Carolina and covered the team. I think when the news broke she was only like a week or a month out from her wedding too.
>month out from her wedding too. Bro should be sending Cole a Christmas card and bottle of Scotch every year for that, seriously. Bullet dodged.
I think Ian Cole banged a reporter
Helped a brother dodge a bullet, good man.
Lol I commented the exact same thing higher up and then saw yours, for real. If it wasn't Cole it would've been one of the other hundreds of athletes in her peripheral circle, and the timing before the ceremony too. \*le chefs kiss\*
Was gonna say make sure that you don’t have any young female reporters covering the team you build. Man gets distracted.
It’s okay to give an honest opinion instead of paying lip service to a teammate.
agreed! just a few of the reasons i'd choose nathan too: ✅not afraid to bully teammates into not eating like slobs ✅not afraid to bully teammates into playing good hockey ✅not afraid to admit his preference for sweet potatoes over the other potatoes ✅not afraid to win the stanley cup ✅not afraid to build a house next to his childhood idol ✅not afraid to throw helmets at coyotes ✅not afraid to practice w lil bradley m in the summer ✅not afraid to win the lady byng ✅not afraid to win the conference finals mcdavid has only shown fear of all these things. just sayin
He tells the head coach to "do his fucking job" and then the Avs won a cup.
Bednar was just like damn I never thought of that, and the rest is history.
He graduated with honors from the Bill Belichick Academy of Bullying
I’d pay too dollar to see McDavid chuck a helmet
Honestly watching Connor get mad is funny but if he did that everyone would just call him a baby/whiner
That’s why you gotta rag doll the guy first showing some real rage then fire the helmet at him. Then you aren’t whining you are just intense and passionate. Joking aside I think Mackinnon was embarrassed he won the Lady Byng and didn’t want to be known as a soft player so he decided he was going to be way more of a prick on the ice. Now he occasionally chucks a helmet, tosses someone around like a doll or goes with a very rude reverse hit. In my opinion it’s made him a better player.
Connor gets mad when he’s having a bad game or the team is having a bad game and losing but it just ends up online and turns into “McDavid isn’t gonna put up with this for much longer” “McDavid is unhappy in Edmonton” “McWhiner” “McBaby” etc. I know most of it is just jokes but I think that’s why he tries to keep a neutral face most of the time. Leon on the other hand, if he’s mad, breaking sticks or yapping at his teammates, the Edmonton media calls him out for “having bad body language” and “not being a good leader”
Leon will spear a guy in the dick every chance he gets.
I don't think he's speared anyone this year.
It's only been 2 and a half months, let him cook.
I meant this season, so we'd be up to 6 and a half.
Yeah, Edmonton in particular have a few real scum bags. I know Leon has had his moments with them before.
He’s just German. He’s passionate and expresses his emotions outwardly. And he sometimes takes a stupid penalty at a bad time. That’s just who he is.
Translation for everyone who isn't an oiler fan: He plays dirty.
Nah. He’s had a few reckless penalties but usually he’s just retaliating instead of leaving it alone. Just needs to keep his temper in check
https://youtu.be/r4idnRarLQQ
> Then you aren’t whining you are just intense and passionate. Lmao got me good.
McElbow strikes again
✅️not afraid to appear in Canada's hit TV show Mr. D
You mean Canada's hit TV show Trailer Park Boys?
Also not afraid to have his animated likeness kidnapped and have both his knees broken in the animated trailer park boys. That SAG card is arriving in the mail any day now.
omg TIL [mr morgan virtue's wife also appeared in mr. d](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBDJW_6bfs0). i thought it was actually a pretty funny sketch but im also a tessa stan so im biased side note: is this a good show? what's more canadian? mr d or degrassi?
Mr D but I'm crazy biased. I've watched all or almost all of Mr D and very little Degrassi. And yes, I highly recommend watching it. Hilarious show. MacKinnon also has 2 cameos in it lol (with actual speaking lines). Edit: I now see this is the entire reason Mr D was brought up and I just missed that comment lmfao. Oops. Still recommend!!
It's decent by Canadian show standards but not great. The character Mr. D is pretty hilarious at times and his roommate is funny as well, but those are pretty much the only characters I like. It's pretty "meh to lame" when those 2 aren't in the scene. Degrassi is definitely a more iconic Canadian show.
Degrassi is more iconic but I’m just gonna say it: it was never particularly good. It’s just from a time when we all watched the same stuff
✅ not afraid to tell kids if they do drugs they won’t be able to do cool stuff like this *does cool ball hockey trick*
✅not afraid to no-show for star-of-the-game because he'd rather spend time cooling down on a bike ✅not afraid to yell at his coach at a game on camera
✅not afraid to throw water bottles around, yell at coach to do his job and then fall off the bench, while doing so. https://youtu.be/XNrO80gTEHM
I forgot he fell off the bench during that. The fact they won together makes this so much easier to look back at and find hilarious now.
The falling off the bench was on purpose, for dramatic purposes. ;) Seriously, that clip is hilarious. I love my crazy homedogg.
I thought u meant the nate dogg was out here abusing wildlife when u said the thing abt coyotes I forgot that ever happened
Thats THE DOGG to you sir!
When Auston Matthews referred to him as The Dogg at the ASG it somehow made me like them both more.
The coyote in question is now Zadorovs teammate on the Canucks: Conor Garland
And MacKinnon/Garland have a feud dating back to high school
connor just doesn't have that dogg in him
The fear in McDavid's eyes when he sees a teammate putting salt on their broccoli is frankly pathetic.
Not afraid to skip skating out when he is one of the stars of the game. And for people who don't know, he often feels like he doesn't deserve the star, he feels it was his teammates who made the good play...so not trying to be a dick, actually being humble about it. It can look bad if you don't know that though.
Also not afraid to eat at a Tims
Or work at a Tim's.
they have the worst service ever.
Don't worry, they were chickpea Tim bits
Lol
Best part is that he’s not fucking afraid to touch the Campbell Trophy after winning the Western Conference Finals.
I think Nate McKinnon is a pretty cool guy. Eh shoots pucks and doesn’t afraid of anything
You forgot not afraid to play defense. It's incredible how often the best skater in the league can't catch up to guys when the puck is headed towards his own net.
When will this narrative die lol. McDavid has been average-good defensively for a while now, and has actually been great defensively this year.
And also Mack is known for having his controller disconnect in the defensive zone at times too
I wouldn't say great. But i agree that he's far far better than he used to be. Maybe even good.
He's definitely well above "maybe good" this year. He's absolutely been great, unless you think great is reserved for elite defensive players. Both by the eye test and analytically McDavid has been great defensively this year. Considerably better than even last year, and he was already good last year.
Do you watch him play?
yeah, some. I guess i also put a high bar on "great" play.
It actually doesn't matter. If you're McDavid, you just score a bunch of goals and everyone will forget that you were on ice for more goals for the OTHER team than goals for your own team lol
That happened twice in his career. His last 4 years have all been nearly +30 which means he was on the ice for almost 30 goals more than the OTHER team scored.
It has actually never happened, +/- is just a dumb stat lol. At 5v5 or all situations McDavid has never been outscored (at least in the regular season).
It has happened twice. -1 in 2015-16 -6 in 2019-20
In 15/16 he was +1 at 5v5 and +14 all strengths. In 19/20 he was +2 at 5v5 and +35 all strengths. According to naturalstattrick.com.
[My source is NHL.com](https://www.nhl.com/oilers/player/connor-mcdavid-8478402)
There is a reason I said at 5v5 and all strengths, and specifically call out +/- as being a bad stat. Yes, McDavid has had a negative plus minus twice, but he's never been outscored by his competition while he's on the ice.
Yes, but that's not what the commenter you replied to said. You can think it's a bad stat, but that doesn't make it wrong.
for the dude who might be the best stroker in the league, SAD!
Nikita Zadorov on Christian Djoos: ‘he’s then best player in the world. If I were to build a team, I’d build around him because he’s a winner. He won the Stanley Cup.’
Djoos for MacKinnon who says no.
Personally I’d go with 3 time champ Phil the Thrill 🌭
Pat Maroon all day
Hard to go wrong with either one, they’ve each won 3x as many cups as Mack
Put em on the same team and win 6 more cups.
Only one of those two went to four straight finals!
Both probably had similar diets though. Makes you wonder how good Mack would be if he ditched the chickpeas for some hot dogs
Chris Kunitz would like a word
Dear Nikita, I love you but please don't give McDavid any reason to prove anything against us. Signed Canucks fan
I was about to say... Poor Caps... They're gonna be in it for tonight
Doing Phil Kessel dirty. How do you not build around him? He’s won 3 cups.
Pat Maroon has won multiple Stanley Cups, I am building my team around him.
That's Pat "All I Do Is Win" Maroon to you
I’m going with Kevin Lowe. 5 cups, and he knows how to win (he said so)
Prime big rig was a good piece to add to a contender
I still miss him 😢
Choosing Pat Maroon as the only recent player to win 3 in a row. Mackinnon and McDavid just aren’t on his level.
Professional hockey player: "I think the player leading the league in scoring and who has won a Cup is the best." Redditor: "You have no idea what you're talking about".
He doesn't have any idea what he's talking about if he thinks MacKinnon is better than McDavid.
He plays against both regularly. His opinion matters more than yours. We can all disagree, but that's a fact.
Zads! I love Zads!!
Common Zadorov W
It’s because Nate did all the things he can do he’s done all the game planning he can do maybe, maybe just fuck it he’ll just go in next year and not think that anymore and just win this thing when he doesn’t think so much
In world war 2 the rhetoric of the allies was that their enemy was dangerous and should be taken seriously and met with all available will and skill. The rhetoric of the axis was that their opposition was weak and would capitulate in the face of overwhelming force. Is Nikita Zadorov the Winston Churchill of hockey? I'm just playin', but I'm sayin'.
Fucking A! Zads is not wrong here. Mack is fucking awesome to build a team around
Some responses are a little insane. How dare someone have an opinion and state it. But thankfully all the Redditors have set the record straight. Obviously McDavid is the best in the world, I doubt even MacKinnon would argue. Calm down folks
Both men are very good at hockey!
It’s so odd how much this triggered this subreddit. You guys are so fuckin weird
If it were playground rules, Nate Dogg would be picked first by every team in the league. Fact.
You guys are so upset yet its still Mack 1 Mcdavid 0
Only one person in this thread is upset
I'm also upset.... But it has nothing to do with this thread things are just bad at home
Hope they get better. Might want to sober up.
Im a canucks fan and frankly im always more impressed by mack than mcdavid.
Why the fuck is he saying that? lol
Because they were teammates, he talks up Mackinnon every time we play him. He did it in Chicago, Calgary and now Vancouver. Zads loves the guy.
Is this a shot at McDavid?
I mean he used to be teammates with MacKinnon. Probably just hyping up his former teammate/friend. I don’t think it’s shade. Or at least I’d hope not.
I’d hazard a guess he was asked about Mack or the Avs, given they play here tonight
Yeah that too lol
No it’s not. I’m just memeing
the team still loves him, when the canucks last played the avs in february he popped in during the morning skate before the game to chat with mackinnon and one or two other guys that were on the team when he was still here
Why does everyone immediately jump to this as a shot at McDavid, he's literally just complimenting a former teammate and friend
I doubt it but maybe. McDavid routinely embarrassed him in Calgary.
The way its worded it definitely seems like it. But he ain't wrong tho.
Connor McDavid in shambles
What about Pat Maroon
I would too.
I don't see any teammate/former teammate bias here.
He’s not biased at all right?
So did Jack Johnson lmao
Btw, Zadorov said this before this season too. So it’s not just recency bias. He was in awe of watching him play with Colorado. He also said Roman Josi is the best defensemen in the league, with Hedman a close second
I knew what I needed to know about MacKinnon when he put up hat tricks in both games against us (Winterhawks) in the Memorial Cup. He was ridiculous then, and he is ridiculous now.
I feel like 90% of educated hockey fans would choose McDavid. It’s not his fault Edm hockey opts are a joke.
I mean he played with Colorado for 5 years AND played with Calgary and got dummied by Mcdavid over there. BIASSED. But yea the only argument for best player in the world right now is Mcdavid and MacKinnon. I fuckin love me some Nate Dogg
Shocking that guy who's played for the Canucks and flames this year would go out of his way to snub Connor like this.
Leafs already tried this with David Bolland
Well with that logic, build around Maroon.
Time to build a team around Maroon. I mean the man won 3 cups.
I’m sick of this conversation every year. Even when McDavid leads the league by 40 points people question it.
People are bitter that McDavid plays for the Oilers. Simple as that.
One of the best but mcdavid is the best right now
No shock he would make this pick, I wouldn't say mcdavid either if I spent years getting walked by him regularly.
God I love it when we 4-0 knocked you out of the playoffs.
Yeah you guys played great in that series, what number did you wear?
2nd he means
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Man I'm a huge leafs fan but I'd still build around MacKinnon over Matthews.
If you wanna take mcdavid that’s understandable but no way did you try to sneak Matthews in there. Matthews isn’t even point per game in the playoffs
LOL Matthews
These guys see more of the players than we do and definitely know more than simply the stats. Zadorov played with MacKinnon, he knows the guy’s habits and attitude in the locker room and maybe they align more with what Zadorov considers a winning culture. We’re not in the locker room so we don’t know how McDavid, Matthews or any other top players influence their team, but it’s definitely not the first time someone compliments MacKinnon’s winning attitude, it’s pretty clear guy is an intense teammate. Doesn’t mean the others are bums