Jared Bednar shut down the Nathan MacKinnon vs Connor McDavid debate Friday, and the Avalanche coach didn't bother softening it.
"We don't have Connor McDavid... tell me what the similarities are, and I'll tell you what the differences are," Bednar said.
He wasn't only defending his No. 29. Bednar also pushed back on stacking Colorado's power play up against any other unit in the league.
The comparison keeps coming back because the contracts sit side by side. MacKinnon carries a $12,604,000 cap hit, and McDavid sits right behind him at $12,500,000.
That makes the Avalanche center the ninth-highest cap hit in the NHL. Edmonton's No. 97 is 10th.
And the early returns pour gas on it. McDavid opened with seven points through two games, one of them a shorthanded goal.
The Colorado star scored twice in Wednesday's 8-4 opener against Los Angeles. He also went minus-2, which won't make the highlight package.
The Avalanche power play already backed up Bednar's point
The man advantage did the heavy lifting against the Kings. Artturi Lehkonen scored twice on the power play, with MacKinnon and Brock Nelson adding one each.
Nelson finished with three points, two of them power-play assists. Nazem Kadri and Devon Toews each picked up a pair of helpers on the man advantage too.
That's a five-man unit spreading the scoring around. Edmonton's version runs through one guy, and everybody in the building knows it.
Bednar is right here, and the comparison has always been lazy. It's like judging two great restaurants by whether the steak tastes the same.
So why won't it die? Because the Oilers keep posting crooked numbers, with 14 goals through two games and a 9-7 win in Vancouver on Thursday.
Colorado's own back end hasn't earned much bragging. Mackenzie Blackwood got the win in the opener but finished with a .871 save percentage.
Cale Makar had two assists that night, though he went minus-1. Not the cleanest start for a blue line that's supposed to travel well.
The Blues visit tonight, then the Avalanche head out for a back-to-back in Winnipeg and Calgary on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8.
The two clubs don't meet until Jan. 26 in Denver. Bednar, behind the Colorado bench since 2016, can close the door on the question at the podium.
He can't stop McDavid from answering it on the scoresheet every night between now and then.
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Is Jared Bednar right that Nathan MacKinnon should never be compared to Connor McDavid?
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