Chara had a very bold take on how McDavid would have done if he entered the NHL at 16

BarDown Staff

Did the NHL drop the ball sending McDavid to Europe to start the season?

Many consider Connor McDavid to be the best NHL player in the world. The scary thing is he's just 21-years-old and getting better each and every year.

McDavid entered the league at 19 and recorded 48 points in 45 games (didn't play a full season due to injury). He followed up an impressive rookie campaign with 100 points in 2016/17 and 108 points last season.

Anyone that has played against McDavid knows how good he is and ahead of Thursday night's game against Boston, Zdeno Chara had some extremely high praise for the Oilers' captain.

"He played in the NHL at 18 years old but he could have played at 16 because he was so advanced." Big Z with some big praise for Captain Connor as the #Oilers & Bruins prepare for battle. https://t.co/VuEkp8WoVf
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 11, 2018

"If he came in as a 16-year-old he'd probably have 80 points. 17-year-old he'd have 90 points," Chara stated. "Did he need 100 games? No, he didn't need any games. First game, he was noticeable."

That's incredibly high praise from a future Hall of Famer in Chara. You have to think very highly of someone's talent and ability to say they could record 80 points as a 16-year-old in the NHL.

McDavid heard the praise from Chara and had this to say about the Bruins' captain, via NHL.com:

"That's pretty special. It means a lot coming from him. He's one of the world's best back there and it's been that way for a long time," he began. "He's real hard to play against and definitely not slowing down at all. He keeps himself in really good shape. He's kind of a true pro that could play forever."

It's going to be fun to watch the two square off in Boston and McDavid should be extremely fresh for the matchup as the Oilers have only played one game this season due to their opener being in Europe.

(H/T: NHL.com)