Fire on ice

Why the Oilers have a real shot at the Cup the Leafs crave and the gap between McDavid and Matthews suddenly seems so wide

- NICK KYPREOS

It was just over a year ago when Connor McDavid clearly laid out the expectations for his Edmonton Oilers after a disappointing secondround loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

"It's Cup or bust for this group," the captain said. "With where everybody is in their career, that's the expectation." Words matter, and the ones McDavid chose 13 months ago, laying out expectations of raising the Stanley Cup at the end of next season, didn't fly off the top of his head.

He understands the magnitude of where he's at in his career, and that his legacy aligns with how many championships he's won.

When he speaks and when he plays, you can tell McDavid is the Oilers' alpha dog and has inherited the same sense of urgency as many great champions before him: Jean Béliveau, Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Sidney Crosby come to mind.

Auston Matthews is the alpha dog in Toronto, but as great a player as he is, to this point in his career you just don't sense that same kind of urgency from him.

"My biggest priority as a Maple Leaf is to be the best teammate, the best player that I can be," Matthews said before this season with his team coming off a second-round trouncing at the hands of the Florida Panthers. "And obviously do what I can to take this team where we're trying to go." All of a sudden, Matthews is halfway through the prime of his career and he hasn't come close to taking this team anywhere.