Pierre McGuire picks apart McDavid and Draisaitl ahead of season opener

You either love or hate Pierre McGuire and his hockey views. On Tuesday night, he once again had a take that got fans talking, when he mentioned on the air of TSN 690 that Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl “are great offensively but they make a lot of mistakes on the defensive end and they need to clean that up for the Oilers to have success.”

Fans were divided on McGuire’s opinion with some saying that both players were doing their best with a shaky veteran in between the pipes thanks to Mike Smith. 

Others noted that both McDavid and Draisaitl have improved over the years, and that their combined -13 differential (McDavid with -6 and Draisaitl with -7) wasn’t that bad considering the Oilers’ run last season. 

Some fans mentioned that the Oilers have bigger problems to fix than the pair’s defensive issues for them to become a true contender. 

Once again, McGuire’s got fans talking, with some lovely one calling him a dickhead and laughing at his “ground breaking analysis.”

However, this isn’t the first time we hear that the Oilers need better defensive help from McDavid and Draisaitl. After their playoff elimination this summer, general manager Ken Holland called out his best players, wanting more from his two leading men, challenging them to do more defensively.

“The answer would be, yes,” Holland said when asked if the Oilers need the duo’s defensive leadership more than their offensive influence, according to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector .

“They are getting better,” Holland said. “But in this playoff series (against the Blackhawks), we were playing against battle-tested players (who) had won three Stanley Cups.”

In the qualifying round, the Chicago Blackhawks managed to upset the Oilers, despite McDavid leading all skaters in the qualifying round with five goals and nine points and Draisaitl contributing a total of six points in the series.

The series between Edmonton and Chicago was a high scoring affair as the Oilers allowed three-plus goals in each contest and 16 during the series. Holland looks to McDavid and Draisaitl to improve defensively, probably because he counts on them for EVERYTHING. 

And McGuire echoed that in his analysis.