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McDavid Tops TSN Player’s Poll, Oilers Lose Forsberg on Waivers

According to the TSN Top 50 Players poll that was released again on Tuesday, Connor McDavid is the best player in the NHL.

There’s some news in the world of the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday — some of it good and some of it not-so good. Their top star isn’t just the top star on the team, but in the NHL for the fourth straight year, but the Oilers lost a goalie.

Related: Ranking the Top 10 2020-21 Goaltending Tandems in the NHL

McDavid the Man

Connor McDavid is far and away the best player in the NHL. At least, he’s the guy players think is the best, according to the TSN Top 50 Players poll that was released again on Tuesday. It’s the fourth consecutive year that McDavid has won the award.

McDavid was ranked No. 1 on 20 of 26 ballots in the annual TSN Hockey Top 50 Players Poll finishing ahead of 2nd place Nathan McKinnon, 3rd place Leon Draisaitl. Auston Matthews and Victor Hedman rounded out the top five.

Saying the players see him as the best mix of speed and skill, “he leads the league in points and points per game since 2016-17 and had nine points in four playoff games last season before his Oilers were upset by Chicago in the play-in round,” the article reads.

Other Notable Names on the List

Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins used to win this award all the time. In fact, he was ranked No. 1 the first seven years of the poll. He finished 7th in voting this season. That represents his lowest finish in the 11-year history of the poll.

Jack Eichel Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Sabres centre Jack Eichel took a massive jump, moving from the No. 29 spot all the way up to No. 8 in 2020-21. We’ll see if he can jump even higher after a season with Taylor Hall on his wing. Hall finished in the No. 48 spot.

Roman Josi was the second-highest ranked defenseman and the top goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

Interestingly, names like Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson and Jamie Benn were all left off the list this season. That won’t sit well with Doughty who already voiced public ire at folks who have written him off as one of the game’s elite defensemen.

Oilers Lose Forsberg

In other Oilers news, the Edmonton Oilers have lost Anton Forsberg on waivers to the Carolina Hurricanes. Stuart Skinner is now the third-string netminder for the club. The Oilers did not lose Jujhar Khaira.

This means, the Oilers cap situation is not much better and the team is down a goalie they believed might actually get some play in net this season for the team. Forsberg was signed on the first day of NHL free agency this offseason. It will be interesting to see if the Oilers reach out to Jimmy Howard, who has history with GM Ken Holland.

Next: Coach Keefe’s Call: Maple Leafs’ Lehtonen’s Not Ready for Prime Time

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