The statistics are backing up what the hockey world has started to believe.
Connor McDavid is better than Sidney Crosby was at age 17.
That's not to say the Erie Otters star will automatically go on and score massive goals in two Olympic finals or win a Stanley Cup for whatever downtrodden NHL team picks him first overall next June, the way No. 87 has in Pittsburgh.
But this kid, who is ripping apart the OHL offensively right now, is superior to the player Crosby was for the Rimouski Oceanic a decade ago.
“They're both the top player in their league at the same age,” said one veteran NHL scout, who prefers to remain anonymous, “but with what McDavid has done the first couple of months of this season, it's just mind-boggling.
“It's hard to watch the other players in the game. It's hard to scout (Otters teammate) Dylan Strome or anyone else you're there to watch because he's so good.”
The difference, according to the trained eyes, is in McDavid's speed.
Crosby has always been an intelligent player but when he was 15 at Shattuck St. Mary's, he wasn't a great skater. By 17, he started to become a good skater and he worked so hard at it, he's great now.
McDavid is already an outstanding skater.
“That would be his advantage over Sidney,” the scout said. “Connor is so much faster than everyone else. The thing I noticed the first time I saw him play is if there's a turnover in his own zone and he comes up with the puck, the other team starts to panic. You can see they're worried and the D backing up. They know they have an issue. I can't say I've seen a guy come up with the puck in his own zone and the other team thinks, 'Uh, oh.' He's 175 feet from the net and they think he can score.”
McDavid is most deadly off the rush. Crosby has been famous for honing his ability to work the puck down low effectively against bigger defenders and centres.
“The funny thing about Crosby – and he doesn't get credit for it – is he's the best grinder in the NHL,” the scout said. “He has this finesse image along the lines of Gretzky, but he's not. Coming up with pucks, rolling off guys and cycling, he does all those little power forward things.”
That started in Rimouski, where Crosby would beg then-assistant coach Guy Boucher to keep coming at him in battle drills so he could learn to absorb the punishment he would face in the pros.
McDavid isn't that powerful yet, but he's cracked 6 foot and he's got some weight under him now.
“That was a worry,” the scout said. “When he came in the league, he was a boy but he's a young man now. I can't think of many situations (where a draft-eligible player) has been this dominant. Crosby was kind of like it. (Alex) Ovechkin was like that, too, scoring two goals a game, but that was international hockey. A guy like (St. Louis defenceman) Jay Bouwmeester was such a great skater, your eye went to him. But McDavid is just incredible. He's so fast and so smart and so unselfish.”
The only thing anyone points to is his defensive game.
“But that'll come,” the scout said, “and he's got the puck the whole time and that's pretty good defence, too.”
There's no question McDavid is going to be compared and contrasted with American counterpart Jack Eichel, the young Boston University star, right up to the draft. The next big game is Canada-USA at the world juniors on New Year's Eve in Montreal.
“It'll be the most hyped since the Olympic gold medal game,” the scout said. “I'm surprised I haven't seen an ad for it yet on TSN.”
But really, a GM who would pick Eichel over McDavid at this moment must be sure of unlimited job security.
It's not going to happen – and that's why we have to get our fun comparing the kid with the game's greats.
“Patrick Kane is one of the best juniors I've ever seen,” the scout said. “He and McDavid are both hard to hit, but this guy is faster than Kane. Most kids who are going 100 miles an hour don't necessarily have to think. They just skate around everybody. This guy thinks at that high speed, which is his remarkable quality.
“Sidney Crosby was an intelligent player before he was a fast player.”
And if you're a fan, it's time to act quickly, too.
Go to the nearest rink and see McDavid play for 20 bucks before you have to shell out $500 or more next year.