Title-Less Oilers Superstar McDavid on Edge of Icy Infamy

Oilers superstar needs to bring home Stanley Cup to cement his place as NHL’s top player.

Connor McDavid (97) of the Edmonton Oilers is seen on the ice against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on May 31, 2024. Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

There was a meme-worthy moment during Edmonton’s recent six-game Stanley Cup playoff series victory over the Los Angeles Kings that featured four consecutive wins for the Oilers.

The indelible image was a Connor McDavid eyeroll that he couldn’t control after an unbelievable one-handed go-ahead goal from Trevor Moore of Los Angeles with 2:32 to play in the second period of Game 3 of the series. The goal gave the Kings a 4–3 lead in the game, and the NHL superstar’s reaction seemed to pose the question to the world: “Are you kidding me? Am I going to have to do this single-handedly, too?”

The series victory obviously didn’t come easily for the Oilers, who dropped the first two games before switching goalies and finding their scoring touch. Edmonton eventually came from behind—as it did in all four of its wins—to take Game 3, all but proving that the road to a Stanley Cup is guaranteed to be bumpy.

The Kings were the fourth seed in the Western Conference, so Edmonton’s series run was considered a bit of an upset. The sixth-seeded Oilers are taking on the second-seeded Las Vegas Golden Knights in the second round of the playoffs and are eying another upset as they seek to skate past the Pacific Division-winning Knights.

In fact, they rallied from two goals down on Tuesday, thanks to a pair of assists from McDavid, to capture the series opener 4–2 on the road.

But most eyes will be focused on McDavid, whom the Kings held mostly in check in a losing effort. The Kings placed so much focus on the Oilers’ top scoring threat that the complementary players made a huge impact in the outcome, a fourth consecutive season-ending series loss to Edmonton for L.A.

McDavid put up 11 points in this latest series against the Kings, but just two of them were goals. That can be viewed as both a positive and negative—since he didn’t have to score to push the team forward. But perhaps a few extra goals might’ve shortened the series.

McDavid is in his 10th season as an NHL standout and carries the equivalent of a scarlet letter on his No. 97 sweater.

He willed his team, which also features the goal-scoring leader this season (52) in Leon Draisaitl, whose career is also on a Hall of Fame trajectory, to the Stanley Cup Final last season before falling to the Florida Panthers in Game 7. But last season was the closest he has pushed his team to a Cup victory.

Connor McDavid (97) of the Edmonton Oilers skates with the puck against the Los Angeles Kings in Game Five of the First Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California on April 29, 2025. Harry How/Getty Images

McDavid, because of his laws-of-physics-defying stickhandling that leads to highlight goals and assists, is largely considered the game’s most talented player.

He strikes fear in defenders and goalies, and keeps coaches and general managers up at night because of his ability to break down every scheme devised to stop him—and make opponents look bad doing it.

But as the seasons pile up and McDavid doesn’t bring home the big prize, the 28-year-old’s luster is fading.

“With [Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney] Crosby and [Washington Capitals superstar Alex] Ovechkin’s careers winding down, the NHL is looking for that next face of the league and they would love McDavid to be it,” said “Locked on L.A. Kings” host and “Puck Podcast” cohost Eddie Garcia in an email to The Epoch Times.

“Winning the Cup would only increase his profile and marketability as the NHL’s next face-of-the-league-type of player.”

The NHL needs to break a ceiling that sees it stuck in the role of fourth-class citizen among the major U.S.-based sports leagues. The NFL is far and away the most popular and richest, followed by MLB, with the NBA in third. The NHL is fourth, and isn’t gaining ground, despite the efforts of ESPN and TNT to get more eyeballs on games.

And the impact of a Cup-less McDavid can potentially cast him into infamy, alongside a couple of NFL and MLB greats, according to Garcia.

“If McDavid doesn’t win a Cup, he goes into that Dan Marino, Mike Trout category: Greatest player of his generation to not win a championship—a category no player ever wants to be in and [something that] will ultimately hurt his legacy,” Garcia said.

“Crosby got his, Ovechkin got his, McDavid—to be considered among the all-time legends—will have to win a championship to be in that conversation.”

As their second-round series is in the early stages, the Knights have their share of stars to help shoot down the Oilers, but no one has the name recognition McDavid brings to the ice.

And other than Ovechkin and the Capitals, no team that goes up against the Oilers can match McDavid’s level of fame. So it’s time for McDavid to live up to the name and break the ice.