This past week I had the pleasure of watching a 13-minute video of Connor McDavid scoring 41 goals. I can easily chalk it up as the best 13 minutes of my week, and now I want to share it with you guys.

The video was made by the Youtube account, ALL NHL Goals, and I encourage you all to check them out. Since we’re in summer mode here at NationHQ, I decided to pick my top 10 favourite goals from Connor’s 2017-18 season and rank them in awesomeness.

I learned a few things from watching all of his goals, one of them confirming the fact that Connor makes literally everything on the ice look easy. He scores goals in ways that no other player in the world can, and makes it look so simple. It wouldn’t surprise me if he has his eyes closed during half of them, too!

With that being said, Connor didn’t score a ton of jaw dropping goals this past season. This was definitely because he makes everything look so easy but in terms of entertaining videos to watch, most of McDavid’s goals were just him skating faster than the opposing defenceman and finishing off the play with a quick shot. Very effective strategy if you ask me. With 41 goals, Connor finished sixth in goals scored this past season. I honestly think that with some help from the team, Connor will score 50 next year.

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Anyways, enough of me jabbering on about how good Connor McDavid is. Take a look at my top 10 McGoal list below!

#10 – February 7th vs Kings

This looks like a pretty standard Connor McDavid goal. He gets the puck dished to him in the neutral zone and beats the defender one-on-one. But this wasn’t any ordinary defender, it was Norris trophy calibre defenceman, Drew Doughty. McDavid did the ol’ in-and-out on Doughty and quickly released the puck through Quick.

#9 – January 9th vs Preds https://oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/mcdavid_jan9.mp4 After watching all of Connor’s goals from this past season, I’ve learned that a heavy majority of them come from him using his rocket skates (if that wasn’t obvious before). This goal was impressive because he received the puck at the Nashville blue line while standing still and then easily walked around Ekholm to beat Rinne short side. RELATED ARTICLE: WWYDW(FE): Moving Veteran Defencemen

#8 – March 10th vs Wild

Connor’s agility is like no other. His move to side-step the Wild defender at the blue line reminded me of David Johnson in the NFL. After the fancy edge work, McDavid drove the net and nearly beat Dubnyk on his first shot while moving laterally. His forward motion allowed him to pick up his own rebound to pot the first goal of the game.

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#7 – February 5th vs Lightning

https://oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/mcdavid_feb5b.mp4 Connor McDavid claiming he’s not good at breakaways is probably the most humble thing I’ve ever heard from him. I’d admit he didn’t seem to score a TON of breakaway goals in 2016-17, but he really turned it up this past year. In this goal, McDavid left the Tampa defencemen in his rocket skate smoke and finished it off with a backhand-forehand head fake onLightninghting goaltender.

#6 – March 29th vs Canucks https://oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/mcdavid_mar29.mp4 Connor McDavid making a bunch of Canucks look like fools? Yeah, I’ll watch that a few times! This goal happened in the second to last game of the season and on the Sedin’s final game in Vancouver. He outworked both Canuck d-men and gave the Oilers an opening lead in the period. My boy!

#5 – October 4th vs Flames

This goal was amazing for a number of reasons. Not only was it against the Calgary Flames, but it was the very first Battle Of Alberta of the season. In fact, it was the very first game of the season. Remember when we had such high hopes and dreams for our team? Connor finishing a hatty on opening night nearly blew the roof off of Rogers Place. Eventually, the hype all came crashing down a few weeks later, but we will always have this breakaway goal. Connor literally started the rush at the defending hashmarks and skated past nearly every Flame on the ice to score and I still get goosebumps watching it.

#4 – February 1st vs Avalanche

https://oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/mcdavid_feb1.mp4 We’re getting into the fun stuff now! Admittedly, I completely forgot Connor scored a baseball type goal this season. It wasn’t as nice as Crosby’s most recent playoff goal, but the skill used to score this type of goal is insane, and Connor made it look so easy. This is especially because he’s already moving so fast, and has to make the split decision to bat the puck out of the air while simultaneously trying not to crash into the end-boards. RELATED ARTICLE: Throwback Thursday: This week in 1979, Edmonton Oilers sign defenceman Charlie Huddy

#3 – March 1st vs Predators https://oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/mcdavid_mar1.mp4 This goal against the Predators was probably my hardest to rank and I have a feeling it landing in the number three spot will be the most controversial. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below The reason I appreciate the goal so much is how Connor out-waited all six guys who were in the scrum waiting for the puck to drop. He then swung in casually to pick the puck out of all the skates and completed the play with a filthy dangle around one of the best goaltenders in the league. Now, this was an extra filthy dangle because Connor was essentially standing still just inches away from the goalie with no space to move. He used his quick feet and hands to walk around Rinne while the nine other players on the ice basked in his glory.

#2 – November 7th vs Islanders

Admittedly, without Leon Draisaitl in on this play, Connor’s goal may not have found its way so high on the list. This was a long awaited game against the Matt Barzal and Jordan Eberle squad. Barzal being on the ice and just missing a chance on Talbot made the finish by Leon and Connor even more sweet.

Yes, the passing was gorgeous on this play, but Connor’s knee-down-one-T-bar-down shot from the bottom of the circle to win the game makes this his second best goal of the season.

#1 – Also February 5th vs Lightning

Remember this goal? Remember this game? Connor scored four goals in it in case you forgot, and one of them was this beautiful thing. How he scored the goal from such a bad angle is beyond me. He makes it look so effortless and suave. I must have watched this goal over and over again about thirty times this week.

Do you think I got this ranking right? Let me know in the comments. I’m looking forward to doing this over and over again for the rest of Connor’s career!



