Can McDavid match the Crosby standard?

Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid will compete on the same sheet of ice for the very first time Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

So, naturally, it's time to compare the two generational talents.

Or in this case, more specifically, examine the question: can McDavid live up to the iconic standard that Crosby has established since being drafted out of the same No. 1 overall draft slot a decade prior?

Of course, this topic won't interest either party. And instead of indulging these comparisons and conceptualizations, the two will instead exchange predictable adulation. But when discussing legacy when it comes to McDavid and Crosby, the pressure of expectation can now only realistically affect one of the two.

Crosby is a two-time Stanley Cup champ, two-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time Hart Trophy winner, Triple-Gold Club member, Conn Smythe Trophy winner, and surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer. He provided one of a handful of truly indelible moments in Canadian hockey history, and above all that, he's in part responsible for the NHL's current prosperity.

And yet, the awe-inspiring sight of McDavid dashing down the middle of the ice is enough to believe he can transcend the game in the same way.

Salad Days

A cursory look at the numbers would indicate that McDavid's indoctrination into the NHL hasn't been nearly as successful as Crosby's was.

The Pittsburgh Penguins captain hit the 100-point plateau in his rookie season, scoring fractionally short of a half-goal per game while collecting 1.26 points per start. Crosby made a major leap in production in his second year, racking up 120 points. This gave him 75 goals and 222 points in his first two NHL campaigns, which averaged out to an astounding 1.39 points per game.

Crosby had 44 more points than Pittsburgh's next highest scorer (Sergei Gonchar) in his rookie season, and when support in the form of Evgeni Malkin arrived in his second year, Crosby emerged as the NHL's most dominant player, helping the Penguins improve by 25 wins.

McDavid's rookie season, of course, was cut short 13 games in when he broke his collarbone crashing into the end boards. When healthy, however, McDavid was one of six players - including Crosby - to average more than one point per game. He finished with 16 goals and 48 points in 45 starts, which works out to 0.36 goals per game and 1.06 points a night.

Factoring in his five goals and 14 points in 13 games this year, McDavid's improved his career per-game production to 1.07 points - still almost a third of a point per game less than Crosby mustered in his teenage seasons.

Deeper Dive

There are obvious problems with comparing the work of Crosby, who appeared in 160 games in his first two seasons, and McDavid, who has 58 NHL games for his career. Breaking down Crosby's first 58 games illustrates this as fact.

Crosby scored 28 goals and 65 points in his first 58-game chunk. This is on par for his career goal-scoring rate at just under a half goal per game, but his 1.12 points per game over that stretch is far closer to McDavid's first sample (1.07 points) then Crosby's career average of 1.33.

Also leveling the playing field is the generational divide between their arrivals.

With games averaging between 2.95 and 3.08 goals from 2005-07, there were 14 100-point seasons and 40 85-point individual campaigns. Fast forward to now, there's been two 100-point scorers in the last four seasons, and only three players broke the 85-point threshold in McDavid's rookie season. Games averaged 2.71 goals per game that year - the fewest in the salary cap era.

Relative to environment, it's not a stretch to suggest that McDavid's points-per-game average is right in line with Crosby's work over the same time period.

Legacy

Individual scoring rates are what will remain in McDavid's control. And with his speed and skill, he can be one of the most prolific scorers of this generation and dominate for at least the next decade. What he can't control, however, are external factors that contributed to Crosby's greatness.

Crosby's worked under two NHL executives that have successfully constructed a roster capable of winning the Stanley Cup. For McDavid, just helping the Oilers become one of 16 postseason teams would be a major accomplishment in his second season.

The 29-year-old has represented Canada twice at the Olympics, offering an opportunity to deliver his greatest moment in hockey: the golden goal at the Vancouver Olympics. McDavid may never have the chance to call himself an Olympian.

Crosby won another international title with Canada at the World Cup of Hockey in September. McDavid's age prevented him from being on that team.

Opportunity

Though he may have a season-to-season impact comparable to Crosby's in his career, McDavid may never have the chance to match resumes simply due to factors beyond his control.

But McDavid does have an opportunity Crosby will likely never have, and one that if taken, would mean more to a large portion of Canadian hockey fans that have experienced his eminence over the last decade.

If McDavid was able to to bring a cup back to Edmonton, he'd be ending a championship drought north of the border that's quickly closing in on a quarter century.