Connor McDavid's playoff run for the ages

Win or lose this is an incredible performance and an all-time great performance.

Whether or not the Edmonton Oilers end up completing this comeback in the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers, there is one thing that is abundantly clear — Connor McDavid is an absolute force of a hockey player and is having one of the single most dominant postseason performances in the history of the NHL.

It is the type of performance that could — and maybe even should — result in a Conn Smythe win even if his team does not actually win. And that would be no small accomplishment. It has only happened five times in the history of the award, and only once involving a non-goalie (Philadelphia Flyers forward Reggie Leach won it in 1976 despite the Flyers being swept by the Montreal Canadiens).

But it is also something that should be very much in play if Florida wins one of the next two games.

I don’t *think* it will happen, because I assume a Florida win probably gives it to Sergei Bobrovsky (the wrong decision) or Aleksander Barkov (at least a very valid decision), but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t.

If Edmonton wins the next two games and erases a 3-0 series deficit, McDavid is not only the slam dunk winner, it should be unanimous.

Honestly, I can not recall the last time I saw a level of dominance from one player like this in an NHL postseason. You might have to go all the way back to Evgeni Malkin in 2009 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. But I am not sure even that one compares to what McDavid is doing here.

It’s not just the fact he is putting up big numbers.

It’s not just the fact he is putting up historic, and potentially record-setting numbers.

It is the way he is quite literally putting the Oilers on his back and dragging them along.

The big issue with the Oilers during the early portion of McDavid’s career — and even recently — was the way so much of the team’s success was dependent on both him and Leon Draisaitl to carry them. The depth scoring was non-existent. The defense was bad. The goaltending was somehow always worse.

To a degree, a lot of those problems still remain.

Stuart Skinner has been wildly inconsistent in these playoffs, playing terribly early in each series before bearing down and locking things down in Games 4-7.

The defense has one playable pairing and two pairings that get absolutely crushed every night.

They are in the Stanley Cup Final despite having just five players with more than nine total points.

His performance in Games 4 and 5 of the Stanley Cup Final has been legendary stuff at both ends of the ice, posting back-to-back four-point games in the Stanley Cup Final, while also defending and back-checking like an absolute madman.

Let’s just take a look at some of the overall numbers going into play for Game 6 on Friday.