EDMONTON, Alberta _ Troy Brouwer has played in Chicago, Washington and St. Louis, so he knows a thing or two about superstars.
He has played alongside Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa with the Blackhawks, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom with the Capitals and Vladimir Tarasenko with the Blues.
So the Calgary Flames veteran seemed like the perfect person to assess the talent level of Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid.
"At this point, I think he might be the best player in the NHL," Brouwer said. "The dynamic of his game, he seems to create something every shift. A lot of the guys have speed like he does, but they can't stickhandle quite the same at top speed like he can.
"For how much you need to key on him, for how much you talk about him before going into a game, he's probably the most special player in the league."
McDavid, whom the slumping Wild will be forced to contend with Sunday night, is 19.
In a league that features stars like Kane and Toews, Ovi and Sidney Crosby, McDavid may already be the best of the best and atop a mountain of young stars, including Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine and Jack Eichel, who are taking the league by storm.
The Oilers have gotten more than their fair share (four) of first overall picks the past seven years. But as Columbus Blue Jackets President John Davidson said, the Oilers "should be putting their hands on the Bible three times a day" for how lucky they were to win the lottery in 2015.
"He's (Mark) Messier," St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "One step and he's gone. There's lot of players that skate fast, but there's very few that skate fast and are able to make plays at top speed. That's what Mess did.
"(McDavid's) got five tools, but at top speed, he doesn't have to pause and think and stop and reconnect his brain. There's not many players where the mind is up to the legs. There's a lot of legs in this league, but very few players that have the mind to go with those legs."
After 48 points in 45 games during a rookie season that was shortened by a broken collarbone, there has been no sophomore slump for McDavid.
Before Saturday's game vs. Anaheim, McDavid was leading the NHL with 34 points in 25 games and on a seven-game point streak with six goals and 15 points in that stretch.
McDavid is already talked about in the same breath as Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe and Crosby. The speed is what really sets him apart.
"I don't think there's ever been a set of hands that come with that speed, and that's a different animal," Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "Matching that speed is impossible. It's completely impossible if you're behind him. And you've got no chance if you're beside him."
McDavid said that as a kid "I was always working on my hands. I'm very comfortable with the puck, for sure. But skating? That's the stuff that comes naturally for some."
He seems to get a breakaway or two a game.
"He's got a step on everybody no matter where he is on the ice," Brouwer said. "For that reason, you have to be tentative with him. That respect that his speed commands, it makes him even more dangerous because you can't play him up close. You've got to 2-on-1 him, but then he's good enough to make plays through you to other people that are open."
In 70 career games, McDavid is averaging 1.17 points per game. Among active players, Crosby's at 1.33 and Evgeni Malkin's at 1.17.
The question is where does McDavid take his game and how far can he guide the Oilers. Gretzky believes McDavid can go down with the best of the best and lead Edmonton to multiple Stanley Cups.
"You don't know what the limit is for a guy like that," Flames goalie Brian Elliott said. "He's a guy that you have to be aware of any time he's on the ice. Not many guys have that kind of status right away."
