Connor McDavid following Wayne Gretzky's advice as he also follows in his footsteps

Connor McDavid following Wayne Gretzky’s advice as he also follows in his footsteps

Staff Writer

May 2, 2017 3:10 PM PT

Reporting from EDMONTON, Canada — The Great One came out to watch the Next One at Rogers Place on Tuesday, with Wayne Gretzky settling into a lower-bowl seat to watch Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers prepare for Game 4 of their second-round playoff series with the Ducks on Wednesday.

Edmonton leads the best-of-seven series 2-1.

Gretzky left his seat long before the 45-minute session ended, but McDavid said the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, who is now an Oilers executive, has offered frequent counsel to the man who may soon replace him as the league’s top player.

‘’I ask him a few things,” McDavid said. “Now especially more than ever I’ve had to rely on him. He’s gone through this, so you definitely want to pick his brain about some things.”

One thing they’re sure to talk about is the 20-year-old McDavid’s nomination for the Hart Trophy in his first full season in the NHL. Gretzky won the award, which goes to the league MVP, in his first NHL season in 1979-80 when he was 19.

“It’s very special,” McDavid said of being named a Hart finalist alongside Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets. “It’s definitely something to be proud of. But it’s a credit to my teammates.”

Teammates who, not surprisingly, think McDavid should win the trophy.

“He’s got my vote,” said forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who played with McDavid last season, when he was limited by injury to just 45 games.

“What else can you say that hasn’t been said this year?” goalie Cam Talbot added. “He’s a clear-cut winner of that award.”

Oilers Coach Todd McLellan agreed.

“I can sit here and describe a million reasons why” he deserves the nomination, McLellan said Tuesday. “He’s a factor in the outcome of our games night in and night out. It’s a no-brainer to be nominated.

“I’m real excited to see where that all ends up.”

McDavid, however, is focused on another prize Gretzky won in Edmonton. At the entrance to the Oilers’ locker room, replicas of the five Stanley Cups the franchise has won sit in a glass case, a reminder that the team hasn’t won a league title in more than a quarter-century.

“You’re aware of the past,” said McDavid, who this season became the first Oiler to lead the NHL in scoring since Gretzky. “Edmonton has such a great history. It makes coming to the rink special to know those former players wore the jersey and had so much success here.

“You definitely look up to them. If we accomplish half of that, that would be great.”

Comeback kids

McDavid is just one of many young Oilers tasting playoff pressure for the first time. And Talbot, who played in the postseason with the New York Rangers in 2014, said those players must learn the importance of having a short memory at this time of year.

“You can’t get too high or too low in the playoffs,” he said. “You have to let the last game go. You can’t change the outcome. You have to just focus on the next one.”

The last game was a 6-3 loss in Game 3, which wiped out the momentum of road victories in Games 1 and 2 in Anaheim and leaves the Ducks in position to tie the series when it resumes in Edmonton. The Oilers experienced a similar situation in the first round when they were routed by San Jose 7-0 in Game 4.

Edmonton regrouped to win the next two games, closing out the season.

“This group has been really resilient and I think we’re going to need that tomorrow night,” Talbot said Tuesday. “You have to learn from your mistakes, but at the same time you just have to let the result go and move on to the next one. You can’t let the momentum carry over.”

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