Mark Madden: Connor McDavid is among all-time greats but needs a Stanley Cup to cement legacy

In team sports, the pressure nonetheless congregates around individuals, not least in big situations.

Such is the case in this year’s Stanley Cup Final, the obvious target being Edmonton’s Connor McDavid.

Florida won the Cup last year. This is the Panthers’ third straight final. Nobody truly cares about hockey in Florida. That’s why Florida and Tampa Bay are such attractive destinations for players: good organizations, no state income tax, terrific climate, zero real pressure.

If you win, that’s nice. If you lose, nobody gets mad. 

In Canada, they get mad.

A Canada-based team hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1993.

The Oilers haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1990.

The Oilers lost last year’s final to Florida, rallying from a three-games-to-none deficit only to drop Game 7.

That brings us to the specifics of McDavid.

McDavid is the best player of his generation: Five scoring titles in 10 years, three MVPs, five first-team All-Star berths and a blurry fast method of playing that makes him a human highlight reel.

Every all-time great has a unique quality. McDavid makes moves while going at his top speed, which is considerable. He doesn’t decelerate for the sake of control.

So McDavid has done a lot.

But he doesn’t have a Stanley Cup. Last season was his first final.

McDavid got playoff MVP last year after rallying the Oilers to Game 7 from the brink of being swept.

But he got zero points in Game 7.

McDavid has 1,082 points in 712 career regular-season games, 143 points in 90 playoff games. It’s tough to not rate him among hockey’s top five ever.

But Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby and Gordie Howe have multiple Cups. Alex Ovechkin has one.

McDavid has none. That keeps him out of the top five.

Is that fair?

Fair doesn’t matter. It’s how it is.

For McDavid, finally winning the Stanley Cup is about legacy.

It’s a difficult final to handicap.

Florida has a huge edge in goal with Sergei Bobrovsky, a Cup winner and very likely Hall-of-Famer.

But Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner has settled into a feast-or-famine sort of groove. He’s got three shutouts and two one-goal games among his 10 postseason starts.

The Oilers have home ice, where they’re 6-1. But the Panthers are 8-2 on the road.

Florida has two superior defensive centers in Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart. Will they neutralize Edmonton’s 1-2 punch of McDavid and Leon Draisaitl?

It’s a fun matchup. Edmonton is fast, Florida is heavy.

It won’t be a ratings bonanza for TNT, the broadcast network. Canadian market vs. non-hockey market. Two great teams, but not marquee brands. Last year’s final averaged 4.16 million viewers per game. But that’s because Game 7 drew an audience of 7.66 million.

I’m picking Edmonton, which feels like a mistake even as I type it. Given the goaltending mismatch.

But it feels like McDavid’s time.