Will McDavid and Laine become the next Crosby and Ovechkin?
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But even coming off the heat of battle, Connor McDavid and Patrik Laine happily paused to talk about playing against their idols in the NHL for the first time.
In the case of Laine, it has already happened. The Winnipeg Jets rookie grew up an avid? Alex Ovechkin fan and got to face Ovechkin for the first time in the NHL last Tuesday. Laine had played against Ovechkin internationally, the first time coming during the World Championships in May.
Still, their first NHL meeting was quite the thrill for the 18-year-old right winger.
"It was exciting to play against my childhood idol," Laine said. "It was a great moment."
Next, it's McDavid's turn.
McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers face Sidney Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. It will be the first time McDavid, 19, plays against Crosby, 29. McDavid was still sweating from a win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday when he was asked about the opportunity to play the guy he grew up revering.
Even as reserved as McDavid is, you could sense his admiration.
"It's exciting. [Crosby is] someone I grew up idolizing," McDavid said. "I didn't get a chance to play him last year. I didn't get a chance to play him in the World Cup. For me, it's going to be pretty cool."
Crosby and Ovechkin are still at the top of their games. Their teams are well-built and poised to make runs in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
We're not putting them out to pasture.
But in McDavid and Laine, we have two young players who are just about ready to take the baton. If you're sick of Crosby and Ovechkin comparisons, well, you're in luck. Get ready for a decade's worth of comparisons between McDavid and Laine, because they might be the two players best poised to fill the vacancy when Crosby and Ovechkin move closer to the Hall of Fame.
With eight goals so far this season, Laine is at the top of that leaderboard, where Ovechkin has finished six times in his career.
"Sounds pretty good," Laine said, when told of his spot in the goals standings. "Cool. It's nice to hear."
He also has more goals than any other rookie in the league, even after? Auston Matthews jumped out to an early lead with his historic four-goal NHL debut on Oct. 12.
The general manager who drafted Ovechkin was in the building when Laine scored his seventh NHL goal. Former Capitals and current Las Vegas GM George McPhee saw shades of Mario Lemieux in Laine's game when he first watched him during the World Junior Championships in Finland.
The Ovechkin comparison works for McPhee too, mostly because both are threats to score every time they shoot.
"Some guys can shoot it all night and it's not going to go in," McPhee said. "These guys need one chance and they're a threat to score. They both have the ability, a little bit of a curl and drag -- while they're doing it, it changes the angle for the goalie. [Laine] is really accurate. He can really place pucks."
As for McDavid, he has been getting Crosby comparisons all his life. Now the hockey world will get to see how their matchup plays out on the same sheet of ice on Tuesday night.
Crosby has two Art Ross trophies, a collection that would be bigger if it weren't for his multiple concussions. In six games this season, Crosby is averaging 1.67 points per game -- the highest ratio of his career. He's making a charge up the leaderboard despite missing the Penguins' first six games while recovering from his latest concussion.
Waiting for him near the top of the points race is McDavid.
McDavid has 14 points in 13 games, a total topped only by three players ( Artem Anisimov, Patrick Kane and Nikita Kucherov) through Monday.
It sure looks like McDavid will give his idol just as much competition in the points race as Kane, Claude Giroux and Steven Stamkos?will.
Oilers winger Jordan Eberle has played on a line with Crosby during the 2015 World Championships and now skates on McDavid's wing with Edmonton.
"The one thing that sticks out with Connor is his speed," Eberle said in comparing the two. "He's faster than any player I've ever played with."
McDavid and Laine both joined the NHL via different drafts, like Ovechkin (2004) and Crosby (2005). They play different positions like Ovechkin (left wing) and Crosby (center). They play in the same conference, like Ovechkin and Crosby do.
The way the Jets and Oilers are trending, they're going to see a lot of each other in the coming years -- with a lot on the line. You know, like Crosby and Ovechkin.
If it ends up playing out the way that rivalry has, McDavid would be thrilled.
"If you can have half [Crosby's] success or even a quarter of his success, I think that's a pretty amazing career," McDavid said. "He's won basically everything there is to win. He's a pretty good guy to try and follow."
So is Ovechkin.
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