Scouting Report: Edmonton Oilers, Connor McDavid Visit Nationwide Arena

Columbus Blue Jackets (19–10–1) vs. Connor McDavid Edmonton Oilers (12–16–2)

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2017, 7 p.m. (NATIONWIDE ARENA)

Let's just get this out of the way – number 97 will be the best player on the ice tonight. That's the case no matter what rink he's at on any given night.

Connor McDavid – the carrot that the hockey gods dangled in front of the tanking Buffalo Sabres throughout the 2014-15 season, then angrily yanked away because that's what sports gods do to Buffalo – has been the league's best player since his first shift. He led the league in points last year, and despite playing on a bad team with shuffled linemates, he's still well over a point per game pace.

He was also the inspiration for the strangest piece of investigative journalism writing on this site. 

RELATED 1OB Investigation: CBJ, Friday the 13th and Connor McDavid

McDavid's supporting cast, on the other hand, hasn't been spectacular. There's some star power there – Milan Lucic, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and Adam Larsson, to name a few – but they have been, by and large, one of the worst teams in the NHL. Just three teams have fewer points: Ottawa, Buffalo and Arizona. 

Two of their top defensemen – Larsson and Andrej Sekera – are on injured reserve. So is starting goalie Cam Talbot. Times are dark in Edmonton right now. 

You Oughta Know: Jesse Puljujarvi 

McDavid is the best, most exciting and most noteworthy player on this roster – and in the league – but you oughta know the Puljujarvi-Columbus storyline.

Of course, you probably already do, but here's a quick refresher: Puljujarvi was one of the top prospects in the 2016 draft, and was more or less universally regarded as the third best prospect in the draft, just a step below Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine. Columbus, with the third pick, was expected to take Puljujarvi, due to what pundits saw as a drop-off in talent after Puljujarvi and a shared nationality between Puljujarvi and Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen. 

Then, this happened.

The HFBoards crowd lampooned Jarmo for picking Dubois over Puljujarvi, but somehow, Kekainen's decades of experience were seemingly more prescient than Internet Guys. Funny enough, Dubois and Puljujarvi both come into tonight's game with the same amount of goals (5) and points (13), but Puljujarvi has played in 41 games over two seasons, whereas Dubois will play his 31st tonight.

This will be Puljujarvi's second visit to Nationwide Arena – he recorded zero points and two penalty minutes last January – since that fateful night.

Fast Facts

• Hello to old friend Mark Letestu, who played 233 games with the Blue Jackets from 2012 to 2015.
• With Talbot out, expect to see Laurent Brossoit in net for Edmonton. Their backup, Nick Ellis, has not played a game in the NHL level.
• If Ellis does play tonight, he'll be just the fifth Maryland native to play in the NHL – and the first since Jeff Halpern retired in 2014.
• Speaking of geographical notes – the Oilers also have the league's only Australian on their roster, Nathan Walker, who was claimed on waivers from Washington earlier this year.

Previous Matchups

THIS YEAR: First meeting
ALL TIME SERIES: Edmonton leads 21-28-3-3

Keys to the Game

ONE: Fire the cannon. Connor McDavid can burn past defensemen and change a game. The best insurance? Jumping on Brossoit early and often.

TWO: Special teams have to be special. The penalty kill was great against Arizona. The power play has been bad for almost a full calendar year. The Jackets are a great five-on-five team, but special teams can make or break a game. 

THREE: Play your game. The Jackets are good. The Oilers are not good. Hockey's weird sometimes, but hey, the better team still usually wins.

Team Projected Lineup