Gretzky: McDavid’s ‘the Best 19-Year-Old Hockey Player I’ve Ever Seen’

When Wayne Gretzky speaks, we all listen.

According to the greatest hockey player that’s ever lived, Connor McDavid is already the best teenager to ever play.

Suggesting that McDavid is further along than he was at the same age, Gretzky, who is a former Oilers captain himself, had nothing but the highest praise for Edmonton’s newest C-bearer during a recent interview with the Canadian Press.

“I don’t think there’s any question that Connor’s the best 19-year-old hockey player I’ve ever seen, and I saw (Mark) Messier. I saw (Mario) Lemieux. I saw (Guy) Lafleur. This kid is special,” said Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time leading scorer who led the Oilers to four Stanley Cup victories.

“I could get 60 goals playing with that guy, I’m truly amazed at how good he is.”

Although kidding about making a comeback alongside the 2015 first overall pick, the Great One’s praise for McDavid is anything but a joke.

“Now, it’s going to take time. He’s still only 19,” Gretzky explained. “But he has everything in place to become the best player in the National Hockey League and go on to win some championships for the Edmonton Oilers.”

The accolades can come from no higher place. Gretzky amassed 2857 points during his NHL career, a ludicrous 970 points ahead of the league’s second all-time leading scorer—good friend and former teammate—Mark Messier. He holds over 50 official NHL records, most of which will never be touched.

On top of being widely considered the best hockey player of all time (while having mind-blowing career numbers to back up the claims), Gretzky has played with and against many of the league’s all-time greats while experiencing first-hand McDavid’s perspective of being a young, generational talent in the best league in the world.

Sidney Crosby was the last true prodigy to break into the league in 2005, and is the closest comparison, hype and skill-wise, this generation has to McDavid. Gretzky noted that Crosby, like many of the stars before him, was able to live up to the almost impossible expectations not by winning scoring titles, but by delivering championships.

Photo by Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

“Now, he’s going to cross all those bridges that Sidney had to, whether it be playing for a Stanley Cup, whether it be captain of the Olympic team, all those things are going to come his way. But he’s ready for it.

“What I’m saying is if you want to get that elite status where they say you’re Bobby Orr or you’re Jean Beliveau, to me you’ve got to win a Stanley Cup,” Gretzky said.

While offering a full repertoire of smarts, poise and skills, it’s McDavid’s skating ability that leaves the great one most in awe. Gretzky claims that McDavid has “one extra gear that I don’t think I’ve ever seen on a hockey player.”

That’s coming from a guy who played with Paul Coffey.

The praise for McDavid, who was recently named the youngest captain in NHL history, is more than warranted. In the first 49 games of his infantile NHL career, the Newmarket, Ontario, native has put up 19 goals and 54 points.

Over a full 82-game season, that projects to about 90 points, which would have placed him only behind Patrick Kane for the NHL points lead in 2015-2016—as an 18-year-old rookie.

If he can stay healthy, McDavid should hit the 100-point mark and, like Gretzky did, challenge for the Hart and Art Ross trophies in only his sophomore season.