Last week, the Edmonton Oilers named their new captain and alternates. Their alternates: Ryan Nugent-Hopkin, Milan Lucic, Jordan Eberle and their captain… Connor McDavid. Although many Oilers fans believe he will do a great job as captain, there are many who disagree. I am definitely one of those people who disagrees. Let's be real for a second, the Oilers are struggling, they have been for a couple years and picking up McDavid has given fans a sense of hope to turning their team around. Yes, I do think McDavid is an incredible player, but do I think he deserves Captain? No, not yet at least.

Connor was the first overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft. There's no doubt he was an excellent addition to the Oilers Organization. Being 18-years-old and holding a lot of promise, big things were expected from him. There have been other players in his situation where they were named captain after their first season or right at the beginning of their careers but they proved themselves before. McDavid has yet to spend an entire season in the NHL. Last season he suffered a long-term injury while playing the Flyers that took him out for majority of the season. In my opinion I think Connor still has a lot to prove. Dominating the ice before being drafted is completely different than dominating the ice in the NHL. There are guys that have been around for years, that are bigger than him, and are definitely not afraid of him. Stepping up into the big leagues is a big change and I think he still needs to prove himself.

Also, I don’t believe Connor is someone who can lead a professional team. McDavid is now 19-years-old it's going to take a lot for other players to respect him. Yes, he is a great player but it takes a lot more than a great player to lead a team. He needs to gain the experience and actually play for more than a month to truly know how to lead and control a team when it gets crazy on the ice. Let's compare him to, who I think, are some of the best captains in the league: Jonathan Toews, Sidney Crosby, and Steven Stamkos. Toews became the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks when he was just 20 years old in 2008. He was the first pick in the draft back in 2006 not only is he still one of the best players in the league to this day, he knows exactly how to lead his team. Gaining the reputation of "Captain Serious" he brought home three Stanley Cups. Crosby was named captain at 20 as well after being drafted in 2005 spending two years in the league before getting named captain of the Penguins. He lead the Penguins to two Stanley Cup titles. Stamkos was drafted into the league in 2008 and named captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2013 when he was 23 years old. He lead his team to the Stanley Cup Finals back in 2015 and through playoffs again last season. So what do these three captains have in common: experience and leadership. They learned over the years playing as a rookie what it truly meant to lead a team to playoffs and potentially to winning the Stanley Cup.

I think McDavid should gain more experience in the NHL before the Oilers named him captain. They have four incredible alternates that would do an amazing job as captain for one season until McDavid makes a legitimate name for himself. Others might not agree with me and that’s totally fine, but in my opinion I think obtaining the title "Captain" is more than just having talent. I have high hopes from McDavid and I think the Oilers are putting a lot of pressure on him now. He needs to gain respect out on the ice, test the waters, learn, grow up a little, learn how this team needs to be lead and then go out and do it. He shouldn’t be doing all of that while having a "C" on his chest. McDavid has so much potential and as he grows up I believe he will change the game and become an incredible Captain, he just needs more time to develop as a player first.